I'm constantly composing blog posts in my head, but never actually writing them. I keep getting distracted, especially by Twitter and Facebook . . .

There is a LOT about politics I would really really love to cover, but I don't have to time to get into it at the moment. Instead, I'll do a mommy update! You know you wanted one. ;)

Pie is 21 months now – just three more months till he's TWO (!!!). We should hopefully be able to celebrate his second birthday in our new house (still waiting). Because we're just not sure when we're actually going to hear anything, or when we'll close, or when we'd be moving out of our apartment, we decided to be proactive and move out sooner – and in with my parents! Only for a month or two. We'll save money, and our landlord will have a more concrete date to get new renters in. He's already showing the place to perspectives. It's kind of nerve-wracking, but the upside is that my house is relatively clean almost all the time! Of course, I'll pick up and straighten up, and Pie will follow me around, getting things out again.

He does new stuff all the time, some of which sticks and some of which gets abandoned as soon as we notice how cute it is and wish he'd do it some more. One of his favorite toys is anything that looks like a phone. He will put it to the side of his face (still doesn't get it to his ear yet) and babble into it, fake laughing, saying "okay, okay", and finishing with "bye", at which point he takes the phone from his ear, pushes a button, then puts it right back and has another conversation. It's really hilarious. :) He will also do this without the phone, probably because he sees me talking in thin air on my Bluetooth.

Sweetie recently taught him to say "Huzzah!", which is apparently their company's new cheer. Pie, being the little parrot he is, imitated the word, but in this adorable, soft little baby voice, going high-pitched at the end: "Huh-ZAH!"

He doesn't seem to be having any trouble imitating words when they're spoken to him, but he doesn't really speak in sentences yet – none that I can understand, anyway. He does say "Oh NO!" a lot, like a worried little aunt. He also sings, which is beyond cute. :) I think he was singing the "Daddy Song" the other day . . .

We're still having issues eating solid food. He will eat a banana right out of the peel (sometimes won't accept it if it isn't in the peel, so any part you broke off, you have to hold in the peel so he'll take a bite. Stinker.

We've begun occupational therapy, where we're just trying to get him to build a positive relationship with food and set down some routines that sort of prepare him for eating. Unfortunately, I'm the queen of flying by the seat of my pants, so I forget the routine part all the time, and then just get frustrated that he's going hungry because he just won't eat what I offer him! The G.I. consult mentioned a couple Twitter posts ago was just basically the "intake" appointment: Meet the doctor, ask and answer questions, then get filled in on the procedures. They'll probably call me Monday to schedule a swallow test. I don't know how successful that will be, unless they mix it in apple juice – the only thing he'll drink. After that is the scope, which might happen in January. The doctor says we probably won't find anything out of order, and I kind of believe him, but ruling stuff out and finding out what foods he's sensitive to is worth the procedure.

I really need to get him out of bed. He's been sick lately, so I've been letting him take long naps, and tonight's is the longest he's taken in a while! I wonder if he's already on a night cycle. He's been up kind of late the past couple nights (as have I – and I am SO tired right now!), well, at least he won't be getting fussy because he's tired tonight! I just hope he goes to sleep again before it gets too late.

I have a concert tonight at church. All the kids' classes are singing for the congregation, and I'm part of the "Teens/Young Professionals" group. We're nowhere near being a professional choir, or even a moderately experienced one, and have only had a couple weeks to practice. I AM proud that we managed to teach a bunch of kids to sing in Latin, and that it is actually easier than one of the English songs we're doing (Adeste Fideles vs. O Come O Come Emmanuel).

Okay, I have an hour to be there, and I'm going to need to change clothes and feed my child. Later, y'all! I hope to update more often, since I've been in a writing mood lately. :)

(The picture quality isn't great – I used my phone camera, and color-corrected in Photoshop. It's the best I could do.)

Blankie Bear is Pie's tastiest friend. He is the one Pie takes everywhere with him, and whose nose is the most biteable. You can see from the discoloration that he's been chewed on . . . a lot. I've already replaced his nose once – the brown embroidery was coming off, so I used black quilting thread to cover it back up. There had been a hole under his nose, but I'd sewed that up, too. However, Pie punched another hole under my repair, so I needed a more permanently-temporary fix.

I have some tan iron-on patching material that I was going to use to fix a pair of Sweetie's pants. However, I don't have tan thread. After ironing on the patching material, I sewed around the edges with white quilting thread. When I was done, it really looked . . . funny. I couldn't just leave it that way. SO, I added little white teeth and a pink tongue. Now Blankie Bear is VICIOUS!

But still tasty. And that's what's REALLY important. :)

I think I've lamented before that feeding both my picky toddler and picky cat has been an exercise in frustration lately. I think I may have struck a middle, however! It's only briefly, I'm sure, but it seems to be holding out for a moment.

Fred Meyer was having a sale on Beech Nut jarred baby food: 25 for $10. I scooped up 25 of the 2nd stage foods that I thought Pie might eat. If he doesn't finish a jar, whoop-de-doo, that's only 40¢ down the drain, and I can take anything he doesn't like to the food bank. I also think the food bank takes baby food jars, but I have to ask to be sure. I'm saving them, just in case.

So far, the food seems to be a success. He can eat two jars in a sitting, and I supplement with applesauce if he still seems to be hungry. Great! Maybe someday, when he has all his teeth and feels ready to chew, he'll start eating big people food. Or at least 3rd stage food. Until then, though, I'm tired of fighting it and wasting food. So, jars it is.

The cat, on the other hand, does not care for mushy, puréed food. That eliminates about 70-80% of the canned foods on the market, probably about ten of that being the products that do not advertise the consistency of the food within the can. Ember won't eat paté. Ember also won't eat beef – of any variety – and has recently turned her nose up at fish. She still begs to lick out the tuna can when I'm done with it, and I have been tempted to just feed her straight tuna, since it'd probably cost just as much as the expensive food she does appear to like.

Thankfully, shepdog owns a pet store and can provide advice and samples for my picky cat. We've discovered she will totally devour Purina Pro Plan. I also recently discovered that she will eat Friskies Selects (Indoor) – as long as it is chicken. As a matter of fact, chicken is the ONLY food I can get her to eat consistently. She will lick the gravy off any "sliced" or "cutlet" dinner, but she won't actually eat it unless it is chicken. I only got her to eat the beef Friskies Selects the other day because I poured the water from a can of chicken, and a few bits from the bottom, into the bowl and stirred it up. I fed her the Friskies Selects chicken yesterday, and she cleaned the bowl. Today it's "Ocean Whitefish" and something else, and she's not even licking the gravy. Appears to be a full-out rejection there.

So, Pie will consistently eat anything that looks, tastes, and/or feels like applesauce. Ember will eat anything that tastes like chicken – and is expensive. I think I have it figured out now.

Just in time for them to change, I'm sure. :)

Uh-oh, I hear Pie waking up. I stole his Blankie Bear in the middle of the night so I could wash it, and it's still in the dryer. Hopefully he won't have a total meltdown when he realizes it's missing . . .

Last week was our 9th wedding anniversary. We got to go to a REAL movie theater, and pay a REAL small fortune for tickets to see the new Star Trek – which was AWESOME!!! No, seriously – I was a major Trek fan as a kid. I was never as bad as some who just go too far with it, and I never got to go to conventions, but I do remember being very critical of the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation – at the tender age of thirteen. That is, until I laid eyes on Wesley Crusher, who I had a major crush on for a few years, until he turned all whiny and arrogant, and I moved on to crush over Jonathan Brandis for a while (Neverending Story II, Ladybugs, SeaQuest).

Anyway, I kind of stopped watching anything Trek after DS9 came out and Star Trek became . . . overdone. I went to see the movies, but they just weren't as good.

UNTIL NOW. I want to go back and see it again! And again! Cost be darned! Don't you see – MY CHILDHOOD HAS BEEN RESURRECTED!!! :D

And it doesn't hurt that the cast is totally made of AWESOME. :)

The verdict: LOVED. IT. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

****

Okay, I'm done drooling over Star Trek for the moment. Maybe.

SQUEEEEE! It was so SHINEY!!!!

Okay, NOW I'm done. ;)

****

My weekend was a blur – I held a skin care class for the first time in . . . um, too long. Time to get my business out of the "hobby" category – we need the money. It was fun. I certainly need more practice (a LOT more practice), but I can get good at it. I totally could. :)

We ate dinner at Sweetie's parents' house on Friday night and at our friends' house on Saturday night. Lotsa good food! We played Arkham Horror on Saturday until late into the night, while Suquamish lit itself on fire, and got home eeeeeaaarrrlllyyyy in the morning. We got a few hours of sleep, woke up, and got to church at 10:30. We didn't get back home again till 8-ish (9-ish?) that night. Crashed hard, slept till 8am. Sweetie took today off – at first by accident, and then on purpose – and went geocaching with a friend from church. Pie and I stayed home and whined.

( TMI ALERT )

I edited my friend's stories while Pie napped, and tried to convince him that the world is not going to end while he was awake. He is teething. It's FUN.

I finally fixed his original Blankie Bear, whose nose had been almost chewed off (it's embroidered, and Pie had chewed some of the thread out). Hopefully, quilting thread will hold up to his new teeth. Pie is very happy to have his friend back. Nobody is as chewable as Blankie Bear – he has four blankie pets, but Blankie Bear is his favorite. :)

Well, I should go to sleep now. I've been trying to wake up earlier so I can work out and feel like I'm doing something useful before Pie wakes up in the morning. The house is still a crazy, cluttered mess, and we're probably going to have Sweetie's dad and stepmom over for a few days – but I don't know when. So I need to get to work! Maybe I'll clean out a closet tomorrow . . .

Pie ate a WHOLE BANANA by taking actual bites of it, no pre-mashing required!!! I had to hold it for him and keep him from taking huge dinosaur bites (he gagged on one he couldn't quite chew up), and I took a few mini-bites, myself, to show him – but, other than that, he ate the whole thing!

He is now feeding himself applesauce. It keeps him entertained for a little while. I should've been doing the dishes while he was busy with that, but oh well. Shiny computer.

Anyway, that's my news for today. :) Except that I have a kickin' headache that just will not go away, so I'm going to go take some medicine. Laterz!

Yikes! It's been almost fifteen days since I last posted! I've become one of THOSE people: The kind who never update. There are reasons, trust me. One is that I've kind of kicked my internet habit, which I'd been meaning to do for . . . ever. Doesn't mean other good habits have taken its place, but at least I'm not spending all day on the internet anymore.

Another reason is that I really have very little that is interesting to say. And my adult language vocabulary is pretty rusty. Stringing words together that are not "NO" and "Hey, quit that" and "Who's the CUTEST boy in the WEST?" takes a long time, which I never have. At least, to spend on the computer.

This'll be a long post, though, because my husband forwarded me a funny email about last Thursday night's events, while I was at my Mary Kay meeting. It has been edited for OPSEC and internet safety, and all that. Also, Pie is 16 months old. As of yesterday. :)

( ----------BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE----------- )

I woke up well before I wanted to, because Pie's internal clock is more demanding than mine. He might stay up WAAAYYY past his bedtime, but he sure does get up at the same time every morning! I was hoping he'd at least sleep till 7, but he was awake and loud at 6:30. Yay.

I had a headache, which I'll blame on sinuses, because that's what it feels like. Sweetie rubbed my shoulders for a minute to help loosen the tension, but it's still there . . .

Pie entertained himself for a while and gave me a chance to be on the computer, but he started getting fussy after a bit. I put him in his high chair and tried to fix him some breakfast. He wouldn't eat it. Okay . . . Fix him something else. Won't eat that. Fix him something else – he eats half of it and refuses the rest. SO, I mix it all up (compatible food) and eat it, myself. I had a LOT of oatmeal this morning! (Besides the fact that he is INCREDIBLY PICKY, he is also teething, so he doesn't like even some of his favorite foods.)

While Pie was drinking his milk/Pediasure stuff, I filled little Glad storage cups with yogurt and a blended strawberry/banana mixture. Halfway through that project, Pie became VERY whiny and threw his cup on the floor. My headache was beginning to pound at this point.

I finished my project, despite the whining, and got them all into the freezer for future use. Then, I changed Pie's diaper and put him in the living room.

Stupid Mistake #1: I put my book and coffee cup within reach on a stool. I thought he might leave it alone, because it's kind of out of sight – but while I was downstairs putting his clothes in the dryer (I finally washed all his clothes), I heard a thump, and just knew . . .

He standing behind the gate, holding my book (which was miraculously untouched). My large, once-full coffee cup and its entire contents were on the floor. Because it had been up high, the blast radius was pretty large.

*Sigh* Totally my fault, but he hasn't yet learned to leave things alone that he isn't supposed to touch. Still, a very stupid mistake.

I grabbed him and took him into the bathroom, where I ran water for a bath, since he was covered in coffee. While the water was running, I took off his jumper and his diaper.

Stupid Mistake #2: I should have waited to take the diaper off until he was just about to get into the water. But NOOOOO, I had to be all "do it at once". I looked down, and he was peeing on the bath mat.

I had to laugh. My head was throbbing, I had a massive coffee spill that still needed cleaning up, and now my son was peeing on the floor.

FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC.

While he was in the tub, I took two seconds to run the bath mat into the living room and lay it on the floor over the coffee spill (urine folded on top, of course) and stomp on it a bit. Then, I went back into the bathroom to finish washing Pie. We finished the bath; I dried, lotioned, diapered, and dressed him; and then I laid him in bed, because the whining and eye-rubbing meant NAP TIME. Of course, even if he didn't want to sleep, he was still going to hang out in his crib, because I needed time to clean the carpet, and I didn't want someone whining in my vicinity for any longer than necessary.

I took all the towels downstairs (including the bath mat) and started the washer (and dryer, since I hadn't finished putting clothes from the washer into the dryer when I heard my coffee cup hit the floor). Naturally, Pie had to go soak his outfit in coffee right after I'd finished washing a huge load of his clothes.

I have a Bissel Little Green Machine, which is harder to use over a large area than one of those carpet steamer things, but it works well enough for my needs. I cleaned the coffee up, and now the carpet's drying. Pie is napping now, THANK GOD. I was going to run a nice, hot bath and soak for a while, but . . .

Stupid Mistake #3: I ran a full load of towels in hot water, which depletes it enough that I can't run an entire hot bath.

I might try, anyway. My medicine is kicking in (and I'm sitting still), so my head doesn't hurt as much right now. Maybe I should just take a nap, too . . .

Anyway. I'm glad Pie is hanging out with Sweetie tonight while I go to choir. I need to escape the whining!

Thank goodness my interview was yesterday morning, before my allergies descended upon me like locust.

That's a bad analogy. But whatever. My head hurts. :p

First things first: The Space Bags interview went very well. I felt a little nervous, and tripped over myself a bit, but they make a bunch of soundbites and they piece them together into a kind of testimonial montage. Pie even got to be in it toward the end, and they LOOOVED him. I should be receiving a copy of the commercial when it's done, and a link to the website so I can post it and send it to people. THEN, when you see those two-minute home-shopping spots on cable TV for Space Bags, look for the gal with really short hair (got my hair re-cut the other day, and it's pretty darn short – but really cute), no glasses, and wearing a yellow sweater. I talk about my Space Bag being in a flood, and about some decorations I was able to store in one. Pie is wearing jeans and a blue sweatshirt.

I got up around 4am to get ready. I'd loaded the car the night before with all the Space Bags I was bringing with me, and gotten as much rounded up as I could so I wouldn't have to think about it in the morning. I was hoping to leave by 6am, in case there was traffic. It only took me an hour to get there (I didn't really get on the road till 6:20 – had to stop for coffee!), so I had some time to try to feed Pie his breakfast, which he wouldn't eat because I hadn't cooked the oatmeal enough. There was a caterer there providing snacks throughout the day – she had little quiches and chicken sausages in the morning. All organic, eco-friendly, etc. It was Queen Anne/Fremont (Seattle), after all.

Later on, I got in to see the makeup/hair/wardrobe person. She put stage makeup over the makeup I was already wearing and tweezed my brows a little (I'd tweezed the heck out of them a few days ago, but I appreciated her shaping them for me – she was quick about it, too!). She was really fun! She showed me pictures of her son, and talked about how she got to do Obama's makeup for a news spot after the rally he had here in WA. Now, I might not be a big fan of Obama, but that is still pretty cool. My makeup artist for this spot did Obama's makeup once – two degrees of separation from me to the President. How about that? ;)

The background was white, the couch was white with a blue throw pillow, and the ottoman in front of me was white. And there were huge light panels all focused on me. The interview guy sat in front of me, and to his right was a big TV camera that I wasn't supposed to look at, but kept looking at because, well, it's a huge TV camera! I had to repeat a lot of things, because I kept saying "them" instead of "Space Bags", and I was having trouble being concise. The makeup gal had to keep touching up my shiny nose. All in all, it was pretty fun. Pie enjoyed himself, too, and was VERY good. Everyone thought he was the bestest thing ever.

We finished up, had a few people come up and talk to us. The people from Space Bags said they'd send more to me. That's a good thing, because I have been thinking of more uses for them. :)

It was pretty warm outside when we left. I decided to go visit Sweetie at work, since we were on that side of the bridge, and I wanted an excuse to get Jamba Juice (although I might have gotten some, anyway, had I gone home). I'd only had about three and a half hours of sleep the night before, and my sinuses were beginning to make themselves known. Had the interview been any later in the day, or today, I might not have been able to pull it off.

We visited Sweetie for a little while, and then we went home. Pie had already taken a couple naps in the car, so there was no way I'd be putting him down when we got home. I stuck him in his high chair in front of a Blue's Clues video in the bathroom so I could take a shower (I had a LOT of makeup on, and my hair was very stiff). As the evening progressed, my sinuses got fuller and fuller.

I finally used my Sudafed OM inhaler, and it worked almost instantly. My nasal passages burned for a while, but it was worth it to be able to breathe again. It didn't work for the whole 12 hours, though, since I woke up this morning feeling like ten miles of bad road.

I'm pretty sure I'm fighting a sinus infection. Pie is feeling pretty lousy, too. I've already had to dose him with some Baby Motrin to bring down a mild fever, and suck his nose out a few times (THAT's fun).

I think we might venture to the store when he wakes up from his nap, if only to pick up ingredients for chicken soup. I still need to go to Costco, and the bank . . . but ugh. We'll see.

I think I've rambled enough for now. Hafta make a phone call, too. Hasta!

Well, we survived the weekend. We did have to take Pie to the ER on Sunday night, because his cough was horrible, and we didn't want to suffer through him choking and gasping for breath all the way home. The hospital was right around the corner, so we went there.

Fortunately, it wasn't very busy when we got there. UNfortunately, it got busy really quick, and other people were more urgent than we were. Pie's coughing wasn't as bad when he wasn't in his carseat, so we wondered if they were going to take us seriously. We were all pretty exhausted (I'd come home from my choir practice and collapsed on the couch for half an hour, or so, because Pie was finally napping), so the whole ordeal seemed to take forever, and Pie wanted to run around and play in the exam room, and we wouldn't let him, so he was crying and kicking and squirming . . .

The doctor said there was really nothing we could do, there was no ear infection or labored breathing, it wasn't croup – just keeping using the humidifier, saline solution, and vapor rub. The paperwork said he had a "URI" – Upper Respiratory Infection – but it didn't require medication. I don't know, that's probably for the best – I don't know that I could have stood waiting in the pharmacy with a fussy baby.

Part of me is glad we went, to rule things out, but part of me wishes we'd just skipped it. We gave Pie some more Baby Motrin in the car, salined his nose and sucked it out, and slathered on the vapor rub. He fell asleep almost before I turned on the car, and was pretty cough-free all the way home.

Since then, he's developed a runny nose and a more productive cough. He's teething, too, which makes this whole ordeal SOOOO much better.

And now, my own nose is a little stuffy, runny, and itchy. Last night, I took my last allergy pill and some decongestant, because my head was pounding and I felt allergic to the world. Of course, I'm going to feel wonderful early tomorrow morning when I'm on camera with my runny nose and red eyes. FAN-TASTIC.

I got to go shirt shopping last night ALL BY MYSELF after putting Pie down for bed. I went to Tacoma and visited a K&G for the first time, and was pretty impressed with the prices. However, trying to find solid colors that are not black or red or white in a flattering style is NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE these days, especially in a discount store. However, I found two adorable short-sleeved sweaters that are half-color, half-black, and very flattering as a bonus. Those with a couple other picks should round out my clothing selections for the interview tomorrow.

I skipped all my Silverdale stuff today, partly because Pie is sick and partly because I need the time to get ready for tomorrow – and now partly because I'm feeling a little sick, myself. I need to go get my hair trimmed again, because the style I got it cut in isn't quite working for me – it's a little too long still.

A couple other awesome (</sarcasm>) things to happen recently: Our dryer is dead. It's going to cost AT LEAST $109.00 for a service tech to come out – and that's just the service call, alone. It doesn't include parts, labor, or anything else. I'm debating whether it's worth it to get it fixed, or if I should scrap it and try to get an inexpensive one off Craigslist (when an inexpensive one shows up). I'm not sure it's going to cost any less in the long run, though, to get rid of the dryer we have, borrow someone's car and use the gas to pick up a dryer from somewhere and bring it home, plus cost of the dryer. In the meantime, we can travel back to Bremerton to do laundry at people's houses, or pay for drying at a laundromat. What's a little $150 (at least) in light of that?

Also, the garbage company didn't pick up our garbage or recyclables on Monday morning. I'm SURE I saw trucks, and I'm SURE I heard trucks. Our garbage is NEVER picked up before 10am, and though it wasn't out by 6:30am, it WAS out by 7:30 or 7:45, and it was never picked up. I tried to call last night, but the line was full and Pie was fussing his head off, so I didn't bother. This wouldn't be as big a deal, except that our garbage can is full, and won't be emptied till Monday. Do I take it to the dump? *Sigh*

Okay, Pie is playing in the living room unsupervised, and has a tendency to climb onto the coffee table and stand up, so I'd better go pay attention to him. Laterz!

We left Pie at my parents' house last night when we went to our friends' house to game, and it worked out great for everyone! That is, until we got back to my parents' house, around 12:30am. Pie woke up when we got there, so I fed him (I'd intended to, anyway) and tried to put him back to bed. That lasted all of two minutes maybe. He started coughing, and didn't want to be held, and didn't want to be rocked, and didn't want to be put down . . .

OH MY WORD. We were up till FOUR IN THE MORNING.

As much as I hate getting up at four in the morning, I hate staying up that late, too.

He's in the midst of teething and seasonal allergies. The drool from teething, and the runny nose that usually accompanies have been compounded by irritation from seasonal allergies I'm sure he has, creating a pretty icky cough. He sounded pretty bad last night.

I tried nursing him and holding him while watching TV really low - no dice. I tried running hot water in the bathtub and sitting behind the shower curtain with him, so he could drain a bit and maybe get sleepy - no dice. I tried carrying him around and rocking him - no dice. I tried laying him down and wrapping him up - no dice. I tried laying him down every time he popped up, and even rubbing his head or back to relax him - no dice. I tried laying down next to his Pack 'n' Play so he could see me - no dice. Finally, around 3:45, I moved his Pack 'n' Play into the bathroom, where it was still kind of warm and steamy. I gave him Baby Motrin. I moved the humidifier in there, too, and ran the heating fan. Finally - FIN-AL-LY - around four o'clock, I managed to get him to fall asleep in my arms, and laid him in the Pack 'n' Play. He didn't wake up again, and he didn't cough.

At that point, I considered just staying up for the rest of the night. I was awake enough at first, but when I laid down next to his Pack 'n' Play, I was out in a matter of minutes. I woke again around 5:30, when my dad got up to feed the cat, and was awake for a while, trying to decide whether to get up or not. I went back to sleep, and it seemed only minutes later that Sweetie accidentally startled me awake at 7. I woke up again around 7:15, when Pie finally woke up.

It's now almost 11, and Pie is whining his head off, but NOT taking a nap.

*Sigh* The joys of motherhood. :\

I'm going to try to put him down for another nap, and maybe catch some Z's, myself.

Yeah. Figure the odds of that one . . .

I just committed mass genocide.

I'd just put Pie down for a nap, hoping that he would sleep for at least an hour and a half before we have to leave. Then I went in the kitchen to make a cup of tea. I'd been planning to read in the last little band of sunlight on the living room floor until it was gone.

I went to the sliding glass door in the living room and was looking outside, when I felt a little web by my hand. Above that web was one tiny spider. I'm not sure what made me look up above that spider, but I suddenly noticed another tiny spider. And another. And another. A little to the right, I saw a few more on the ceiling – the popcorn ceiling. The kind of ceiling that easily camouflages a hundred tiny spiders spread out over a many-square-foot area – but I hadn't realized this yet. I'd only seen a few. Maybe the majority of them were still stuck in that little ball they're born in and these were the outliers – the brave scouts.

I left my tea to steep and went to the hall closet to get the vacuum cleaner. There I paused, wondering if I should just wait, since I'd just put Pie down for a nap and the sun wouldn't last long. But, no, where I wanted to sit to read in the sun was directly below those few spiders, and I wouldn't be able to relax knowing there were a bunch of tiny spiders above my head. And, when you're as arachnophobic as I am, it doesn't take much to envision a thousand tiny spiders suddenly descending en masse, or growing faster than the average spider and becoming a thousand full grown spiders taking over the house.

So I pulled out the vacuum and set it up. I tried to get the telescoping hose to extend, but it's still stuck. I don't know how or when it got stuck (in the "unlocked" position, of all things), but it hasn't worked for some time. I realized very quickly that the corner/baseboard attachment was neither long enough or wide enough for sucking up many spiders at one time, so I just used the non-telescoping telescoping tube and stretched as far as I could.

Oh. My. WORD.

I did not realize how many little spiders had been sitting over my head in the room my son and I occupy every flippin' day. And I took a nap under them yesterday. As I vacuumed a little portion of ceiling, and the little buggers fled the sucking tube of doom, and there were more and more and more of them.

EVERY. WHERE.

Thankfully, they were all attached to a big web, so sucking them up wasn't really that hard. However, my overactive imagination conjured up visions of being rained on by hundreds of baby spiders, and I wished with all my might that my arm could be two feet longer.

I found more in the blinds on the window, and more in the vertical blinds on the door. I'd been afraid that they covered the whole ceiling, but it appeared they hadn't quite ventured that far yet. I think I got most of them – one or two is manageable, a hundred is most certainly my living nightmare.

Now, every speck on the floor is suspect, and every tingle makes me twitch. Pie is definitely not asleep, so I think I will flee the house while he's still awake and we have some travel time.

*shudder*

Any future house we buy will not have popcorn ceilings. If they exist, they will be scraped and painted. I know people who know people. (I did hate popcorn ceilings before this incident, but this is BY FAR my best reason for eliminating them from my life.)

GAH. I'm SO grossed out right now. :p

I've felt like sleeping all day. AAAALLLLLL DAAAAAAYYYYY. I probably should have taken a nap. I even went to bed at a decent time last night, and didn't get up early this morning . . . *Sigh* I can't win.

We had Pie's evaluation with the family services person on Monday. It went very well – in fact, he excels in pretty much every developmental category. There's one where he's a little "behind" – but by "behind", I mean he's, like, in the 12-month range, instead of the 14. In one of the categories, he's at 22 months, so I'm really not that worried about that one category he's "behind" in – he's just busy with other developments. :) Have I mentioned he can feed himself with a spoon? He's just a genius. :)

Anyway, because I live in a different county from my hospital, and the referral was to a center within that county, I have to get a referral from my pediatrician to Mary Bridge in Tacoma – IF Tricare will allow it. If not, I'll have to go all the way to Madigan. Not a big deal, since my husband works not far from Madigan, and we can visit. I'll still have to cross the bridge, and it's still closer than the hospital I'm assigned to. The referral process will be interesting, though. Hopefully I won't have to go through Pie's actual provider – I saw a different pediatrician, one who actually had a dialogue with me, rather than commanding according to the book and sending me on my way. Since she was the referring pediatrician, I'm hoping I can continue to work through her.

There's no real concern regarding delays in Pie's development, but they'll do an evaluation at a hospital with a specialist, and maybe we can work out something to help him get over his food issues. The specialist might also determine that there is no problem, and he will just grow out of it. That's okay, too. I do wish he would put solid food in his mouth without gagging on it, but I can't have everything. He feeds himself with a spoon, and it keeps him entertained for a while. Why should I complain? ;)

All righty. I need to go to bed. Have to get up really early – tomorrow's Wednesday.

Night!

My other theme was really cute, but I didn't like the colors that much. This one is PINK! :) And it kind of reflects my state of mind at the moment. It also matches my blog title and subtitle. :)

Pie and I stayed home today, because he's been sneezing and snotty, and I didn't want to get him out of bed early to drag him all over the neighboring county for the day. He's in good spirits – he's just snotty. :) I think it's allergies, because the snot is clear, and he's sneezing more than he is stuffy, and his eyes are watering. I vacuumed (!) yesterday, which probably added to the irritation. Hopefully having cleaned his play area will help the irritation dissipate today.

Slowly – ever sooo sloooooowwllllyyy – the house is getting into shape. By this time next year, I should have a clean, organized dwelling! Just in time to move! :p

I figure I have "short-timer's disease". Kinda like senioritis (in high school). I'm so used to only being in a place for six months to a year (or two years, since that was how long I was in the last place), that I subconsciously see no need to unpack everything, and I just live out of boxes until we finally settle somewhere. Well, I've been waiting to settle for almost nine years now. That's almost nine years of clutter, half-packed boxes, and undecorated walls. I have no sense of cohesiveness in my decor or furniture. I'm conscious of this, but I think part of my brain is just saying, "Wait a little longer! There's no point in fixing it now – you'll just move again, and none of it will fit your new living space."

Ugh. Our lease runs out in August, and even though I'm ready to move into something more permanent and get away from this place's questionable history and tendency to flood in the winter, I kinda want to stay here another six months to a year. Just so I can attempt to get it all cleaned, and really live in it. Maybe even meet my neighbors. Have a block party in the summer. I don't know. I really love the location. There is NO WAY we can possibly buy something here (and we wouldn't purchase this place; I'm not buying a condo), and the rent is currently reasonable. I have a dilemma!

Anyway. Hopefully I can keep up this trend. I'd love to make a workspace upstairs – or even downstairs – so I have space to put my crafts and business items. I've thought about getting a sleeper sofa or futon for the upstairs, so we can have guests over, and they won't have to sit on weird, semi-comfortable chairs or sleep on the floor.

There's a lot of work to do. I should do it, instead of hanging out on the computer. :) Laterz!

Didn't know what to call this post, and don't care that much. I hate sitting here for ten minutes, stuck on a stupid post title, when I could be writing a post! And it doesn't feel right to leave it blank.

I've been reading about writing today. And a little about politics. And I've been playing that blasted "Virus Buster" game on Brain Age 2, so much so that I play it behind my eyelids when I close my eyes. Can't! Stop! Fighting! Viruses! Argh!

So, in honor of virus-busting, here is a post I put up at Smart Girl Politics:

"Offending the Defensive", wherein I make fun of those who take offense at the word "swine" in "swine flu", because their religion forbids pork.

I could make horrible puns about our country and pork, but it appears this virus is not affecting only politicians, so they wouldn't be funny. Alas.

ANYway! It's grey, rainy, and cold today. Blah. Poor Pie is having trouble sleeping, because he is cutting more teeth, so his nap has been off-and-on this afternoon. He finally passed out again, but I might have to wake him up before he sleeps too late. I want him to go to bed on time, because we have an early day tomorrow. It's getting to where I hate Wednesdays. I'm not sure how much longer I can maintain the Wednesday schedule, and I've told my Kiwanis club as much. We'll see if I can last through the rest of the year . . .

Now I'm just rambling. I should put my creativity to good use, and go write something. Something not a blog post. Hasta!

I was just about to dial the Holly Ridge Center, when my phone rang. Seriously – I was picking up the phone to dial. And it was the Holly Ridge Center calling me. How creepy is that? Honestly? :)

Anyway, they were calling to tell me that they received my referral, but since I live in Gig Harbor, they can't service me. They can only service Kitsap County, and since I live in Pierce, I will need to call So-and-So in Tacoma.

All-righty. Well, maybe Tacoma has a feeding team that I can visit. So, I called So-and-So in Tacoma. Turns out that she is a county official who can take the referral requests, but is not actually the interventionist (for lack of the actual term). She took my and my son's information and will turn it over to the interventionist (or the one in charge of the interventionists) tomorrow, when the interventionist is back in the office. After which time the interventionist will call me and set up an appointment to either come here or for me to go there – "whichever's more comfortable for you."

Part of me is thinking that was pretty painless, no problem, this shouldn't be a big deal. But another, more cynical part is thinking, "Oh, great – I think I opened a can of worms!" I was hoping for just a simple, support-group atmosphere, not a full-on special-needs intervention. Hopefully it's nothing more intrusive than an evaluation and suggestions, perhaps a follow-up. My son just doesn't care for solid food. And all he can say, aside from random babble, is "Dada". It's not a big deal unless he's still that way at 15 or 18 months.

I took the lazy route and fed him apple sauce and baby oatmeal this morning, which he devoured because he LOOOOOVES it. Then, to keep the whining down to a minimum, I gave him the empty bowl and spoon and let him play with it. I put about a tablespoon of apple sauce in the bowl so he could practice feeding himself, and he was quiet and entertained himself while I ate breakfast and checked a few websites.

He did eventually get bored with the apple sauce (or was tired of having it all over his face and hands), so I took it and cleaned him up. Then, as an experiment, I gave him a couple rice rusks to see if he'd maybe, possibly bring them to his mouth out of curiosity. I also placed some sweet potato puffs there for variety.

Pie knows glorified packing peanuts when he sees them, apparently, because the puffs were immediately ejected from the tray to the floor. The rice rusks were then crushed into a fine powder by the end of a Crayola Color Wonder marker. He must have liked the crunching sound or the zen of the activity, because he was fully focused on it for some time. Needless to say, I had to sweep again.

Instead of eating solid food, he plays with it. He doesn't walk around putting random objects in his mouth, which is nice, but he doesn't do it with food, either. I've been sneaking blended-up black beans and rice into his peas and carrots to get some protein in him (also peanut butter in his oatmeal). He won't eat the black beans and rice by itself, though, because the tiny chunks of rice make him gag. However, if distributed well enough in something he has no problem with, he'll eat it. Hah!

Hopefully, this early intervention thing doesn't get too out of hand, and it will be merely helpful and not intrusive. I guess I'll find out later!

Anyway, I have more stuff to do before Pie wakes from his nap. Hasta!

I've felt like a mental roller coaster since my last post. Can't be on a spiritual high all the time. Thursday was a definite low. Still working on my mind – it can be a scary place. :\

****

I finally made Pie a 12-month well-baby appointment (at 13 and a half months), and got the doctor I wanted. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I was able to discuss things with her, instead of being told what to do. She had no issues with his weight, because he is growing with the curve – just under it – and examined him herself. We talked about a few things, and she said that, while it's not a big deal now, not at 13 months, there could be a connection between his distaste for anything more solid than a little piece of banana and his inability to say anything more articulate than "Dada". She presented the idea of maybe going to the local "children with differing abilities" center and visiting with their infant-and-toddler feeding team, where they might be able to help me address some of his oral issues, possibly before they become long-term, and come up with some solutions to help him get over his solid-food aversion.

This sounds more reactionary than it is – but I assure you it really is a good thing. It's a pain in the neck to have to make and transport squishy food-in-a-bowl (because he won't eat chunks – not even scrambled egg or those melt-in-your-mouth snack puff thingies). I'd really rather feed him off my plate, or bring him crackers, or Cheerios. Perhaps the feeding team can help, and perhaps we'll end up chalking it up to a slow-starter. I'm really not worried – he is only 13 months, after all (almost 14!), and I've heard of many children who didn't care much for solid food until they were 15 or so months.

I do want to have Pie weaned by July, though, which might be another thing I can discuss with this doctor or the feeding team. It'll be easier if I know I can leave him with someone without having to buy or prepare special food for him, or pump (I HATE pumping).

Pie got all his shots this time, instead of me taking him in once a week until they were all covered. He's old enough now. He gets his next HiB in eight weeks. I had been deferring that one, thinking it was just a special flu shot, and kind of leery of it, due to recalls and my sister-in-law's conviction that it affected my nephew's health. However, the doctor I saw on Friday said that there were five cases that popped up somewhere in the midwest, and it's a meningitis – not just a flu. OH. Okay. I had them give him the shot. He cried for the first time ever while getting shots, and it was very sad. :( But we endured. I nursed him while we waited to make sure he wasn't having any reactions, and he was happy again.

He also got blood drawn from his finger (before his other shots), to test his hemoglobin. He was remarkably well-behaved through it. He got a little squirmy toward the end, but he didn't cry. To stop the blood flow on a tiny finger, they have to cover it in gauze and wrap the whole hand in that stretchy sticky wrap stuff. He had a little flipper for a while, which kind of cracked me up. (I've never seen Brain Candy, but there's a quote about "flipper babies" that we throw around now and again, so I took a picture of Pie with my phone and messaged my husband, subject line "Flipper Baby!" I'm a bad mother. ;))

When we got home, I gave him some Baby Motrin and put him down for a nap. Later that night, after Sweetie got home, we were all sitting in the living room, and Pie tripped over my foot and fell face-first against a table leg, resulting in a HUGE goose-egg right between his eyes. I felt HOOORRRRRIBLE. Poor baby! :( He cried for a while, but then didn't seem to notice it anymore. I called a friend from church who works in a pediatric office (ours was closed by then), and she gave me some tips. He still has a purple line between his eyes, but the lump has gone down substantially. I'm expecting his forehead to turn green any day now while that bruise heals. Ugh. I would almost rather a real bruise show up than that purple line and a colorless lump. Freaked. Me. Out. *shudder*

Okay, I told myself I'd get something done this evening before turning in, so I'd better get on it. Sweetie is off doing some website thing for the church, and I've put Pie to bed. I should . . . organize something, instead of wasting time again.

Just another part of my mental problem. *Sigh* I WILL overcome this!!!

Bye!

Did North Korea successfully get their missile in the air? 'Cause there's this giant ball of fire in the sky making everything hot and bright! I don't understand it! The world is coming to an end!!!

Or . . . it's finally sunny (and WARM!). :)

I wore layers yesterday, including a thick sweater with a cowl. By afternoon, I was SWELTERING. I didn't want to go home after my choir practice to find something cooler to wear, so I went to Wal-Mart and found a few cute shirts that look good on my shape (HARD to do sometimes) and were bright and Spring-y (and cheap). I think it actually reached 70 degrees yesterday. This morning I was surprised to see that my outdoor weather station thingie told me it was 70 degrees at 8am. I think it was just in the sun – but that's pretty significant for 8am in April in the cloudy Puget Sound.

Except that I can't find my sunglasses (they're around here somewhere . . . ) I really enjoyed the sun yesterday. I needed it pretty badly. It's PMS week (I think), so my hormones and mood have been all over the board. We ate lunch outside, and though I was going to be late, I didn't hurry on my drive to choir practice. I opened the window and turned up the music. MAN that was nice. :)

Pie is napping right now, and I think we're going to go for a walk when he wakes up. It's probably going to be nasty weather again by the weekend, so I might as well soak up the weather now, and get in some exercise! Goodness knows I need it . . .

Here's a little something I would have blogged about yesterday, but didn't because I wasn't near the computer all day:

While I was shirt-shopping, I tried on this really adorable peasant-looking button-up blouse with cap sleeves. It had an empire shape (flares under the bustline), and looked nice and roomy (clingy on my frame is SO not attractive right now). I am a 14-16 (all boobs and arms), so (silly me), I expected a Large (14-16) to fit.

(Fashion Industry, please take note of the following:) WHY is it that those who design shirts for women (the sex with the often-protruding chest and indoor plumbing, in case someone is confused as to which is which) never EVER take into account that if the size goes up, it's very, very likely that the room required for extra boobage should also go up, too?!

The shirt was SO cute, but it had one fatal flaw: The empire bustline hit me in the middle of my bust. Even better, the button in that region gaped, because there wasn't enough room for my size 14-16 boobs. Why? Why is it so hard??!!

This is not the first time I've had this complaint, either. Motherhood Maternity – SHAME on them – cannot get a bustline right to save their expensive (expansive?) clothing styles. I'll give them a by, though, because they make AWESOME stretch pants. At least they get the butt-room right. ;)

I just bought a swimsuit, too, through a catalogue. Again, I purchased a Large (14-16). It fits the rest of my body beautifully, but – AGAIN – the chestal region is rather lacking. It does fit – it just fits – so I'm not sending it back. But I'd be totally outta luck if I was any more well-endowed. How is that fair? How does that display forethought and consideration on the part of those who design clothing? Oh, right – I forgot. Their models are six feet tall and size 0, and – of course – every size should obviously grow proportionally from that (except for the boobs, which stay the same size).

*sigh*

I hear a wakeful baby, so I gotta go. Laterz! Enjoy the sunshine, if you have it! :)

I seriously thought this cold would last a while, but I woke up at 7am on Tuesday – almost in a panic – when I realized that the next day was the first of April.

Oh crap! I thought. Taxes are due in TWO WEEKS!!!

Strangely enough, that spurred me to get out of bed, take a shower (before waking up the baby, who I think was already awake but oh well), do all my grocery shopping, and clean the kitchen. Well, at least do the dishes and wipe down the counters. And make dinner in the crock pot, and bread in the bread machine. I was almost totally on the ball yesterday! :) And I felt great!

Today's Wednesday, so I was out of the house all morning. I'm hoping Pie takes another nap, but he's making Very Awake Noises. That could signal that he's about to pass out for a couple hours, or that he's not. I'll give him some time, so I can veg for a minute.

It was snowing today. I really miss the sun. And warm weather. I'd really really love some warm weather. Or even an efficient heater. That would be kind of nice . . .

Now if I could just tap some of that energy from yesterday to get some more cleaning done . . . I have a plan for finding tax documents, but the whole ritual scares the hell out of me. I'm serious – the hell. I really cannot express how much I hate our tax system in this country. Thankfully, we do not have State income tax, but Federal is bad enough.

I think I'd rather go dump some tea in the Puget Sound. Goodness knows it couldn't be worse than some of the other stuff dumped there already! ;)

I've been keeping up with my budgeting and record keeping. It's been more than a week! Go me! ;)

****

A text message I sent my husband on Friday:
"You can send an emergency call to 911 while the keypad is locked. Guess what your son just did?"

His reply:
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

When the keypad is locked on my phone, and you touch the trackball, three choices come up: Unlock, Cancel, and Emergency Call. When you click on Unlock, it tells you how to unlock the phone, and you have to do it manually. I was pretty sure he'd never actually make an emergency call, though, and I didn't really know if it would prompt first, or not. Well, I noticed that the screen didn't look locked – it was blue. A call was connecting. I reacted instead of thinking, and hung up, hoping it hadn't actually connected – but I knew that it had, because I realized I was hearing a voice on the other end. She called back. I had to tell the nice operator at 911 that my son had managed to make an emergency call by accident from my phone.

OOPS. At least it didn't get more exciting than that!

****

Pie is very, very attracted to the computer. And he is a very strong and determined little boy. I decided on Friday to buy him his own computer, which will arrive in a few days. In the meantime, Sweetie and I bought him an old keyboard (and a remote that lights up) from Goodwill, so he can pound the keys all he wants. We got the clackiest one we could find. The remote is to keep him from wanting our useful remotes, and to distract him while we're out and about.

****

Pie LOVES BATHTIME. He's been taking baths in the big tub, and he DIGS it! I bought him a little cup toy with a bunch of cups with holes in them that he can pour water through, and of course he had a rubber ducky. He sits and talks and talks and talks, and crawls around. I need to get him a little nonskid mat to put down, because the more he learns to move in the water, the more he's going to slip, and it's not fun to slip in the bathtub. Next, I need a knee cushion!

****

I'm finally (FINALLY!) buying a changing table. I found one on Craigslist that is downright awesome, and totally inexpensive – and nearby! I'm hoping to pick it up on Monday.

****

My battery is dying, and I'm too tired/lazy to go get the charger, so I'm wrapping this up. Later, all!

It came to our attention last week (Friday?) that we might not get paid on time due to Sweetie's job change. I told Sweetie we had been paid, when he asked, because I'd seen the email announcing that a deposit had posted – but I didn't open the email (my mistake). Unfortunately, I forget that three deposits are posted at the beginning of the month: Paycheck, interest, and ATM fee refund. When I went back to check, I saw that there were two deposit emails, so on Sunday, thinking that there had been some kind of pay error, I checked the email and saw that the interest and fee refunds had been paid, but no paycheck.

ARGH.

Sweetie – and most of the rest of his office – had the day off yesterday (funky schedules, not a holiday), so he couldn't do anything about it. Today, he learned that the HRO people put his pay packet in on the 23rd, which didn't give DFAS time to process in time to pay on payday. They're going to pay us – but sometime in the middle of the month. *Sigh*

I emailed the landlord and asked him to hold the rent check – which finally got there on time (I set up a pay service with my bank to send a check to him, because I just didn't like sending a check for almost $1000 in a little envelope through the mailbox, even though our mailbox is locked – and I suspect that it had been delayed getting to him before because I discovered I'd been sending to the wrong zip code the whole time). He will hold the check till the 13th, when we should get paid, fee-free – THIS time. He's been really good to us that way. :)

I couldn't stop some other larger payments from going through – my hope is that the check I wrote for church has not been deposited, and is kept just a little longer.

Grr. Thankfully, we have a pretty good cushion at the end of this month. I've curbed my spending since implementing a "personal allowance" for my husband and me, and we've cooked more at home. Plus, it's a short month. I think that helped a lot, too. This time, we know the money will be there and when – it's just merely inconvenient this time instead of panic-inducing.

****

In other news: I finished knitting my first pair of socks! I need to take pictures before I wash them. They're very cute. :)

I've nicknamed Babysierra "Pie", for some reason. I started calling him "Sweet Pie", and "Pie" just sort of stuck. It kind of fit – and it's cute. Besides, "Pie" is short, fun to say, and versatile! "Sweet(ie) Pie", "Baby Pie", "Cutie Pie", "Poor Pie", etc. But "Pie" for short.

I'm considering calling him "Pie" here instead of "Babysierra", because "Pie" doesn't take as long to type. :)

His birthday was great – if a little crazy. Half the people I invited didn't show up, and it worked out okay that way, because my parents' house was PACKED, and there were kids everywhere as it was. :) If we're to have another family party, I will be borrowing the church's fellowship hall, because it fits way more people, and there's room for kids to play.

I'm also thinking that maybe we should just celebrate our birthdays in August and September (half-birthdays), so we have nice weather and lots of light for a cookout, where kiddos can play outside. That was the most depressing part of my birthday growing up: All the cool party places were outdoors, and March is NOT a nice time to have an outdoor birthday.

I knew he wasn't going to eat his cake, but I stripped him down (didn't bring extra clothes, whoops) and put a piece of cake in front of him. He turned his nose up at the crumbs offered by my mom, and wouldn't dig his fingers in. He's just not that interested in solid solid food yet. We gave him a spoon, anyway, and he commenced to completely destroying his cake and spreading it all over the tray of his new high chair. :)

We tried to take the spoon away to clean him up, but he screamed, so we gave him a clean spoon (the clear plastic kind), and he held onto that for the rest of the evening, all the way home, and almost took it to bed with him (Sweetie took it and put it in his pocket, and found it in our bed later because he'd forgotten about it). The next morning, Babysierra took it to church and put it in my purse. I don't know where it is now . . .

He has FOUR teeth now – two on top and two on bottom, and I think he's working on a couple on the sides. He's practically running. My baby's growing up! I keep telling him to stop, but he just keeps going!

What a sweet pie. :)