Monday Musings, No. 2, Vol. 20

It's a rainy Monday here in the greater Portland metro area. Boo. The rain and cool temps remind me that fall is just right around the corner and I'm not ready to let go of the sunshine and warmth of summer. Pitter-pattering musings below:

Football starts this week. We had our FFL draft last Thursday and I got a decent team for the season. I mean, it'll change as dudes get hurt and I get bored, but I'll be okay to start. Oh, my team name this year: "I've Got A Tim Tebow-ner"...I love puns.
Our new feeding technique, aka staggering, is working so well right now! Ellie hardly barfed at all this weekend. Sure, it's a little tedious to feed her solids and then wait an hour before giving her a bottle, but it's cutting down on her spitting so much and she seems happier too.
I am excited for my extra-long Labor Day weekend next week.
So, I've been doing Pilates at the work gym and it kicks my butt. But I do like it.
I have decided on a color scheme for Ellie's 1st birthday. Why so soon? Because I think I'ma end up making the invites, decor, etc myself. I know, that's crazy. But see...this is likely the ONLY birthday where I can control the theme. Going forward it'll be all cartoons and crap of Ellie's choosing. So I'm doing the party the way I want to do it this year. Boom.
I need a nap. Scratch that - I need a Nap Day, where I can just sleep off and on all day long. That is my fantasy.
Sometimes I get a little bit of paranoia that I'm pregnant again. I know I'm not, but I still worry. I never did before I had a baby, but now that I have, I worry about it.
Our salad bar at work is awesome, but I can't stomach (PUN!) paying $3.50 a day for nommy salad. Why does it have to cost that much?
We are caught up on this season of Entourage as of last night. It's really good this year.
I haven't heard the new Kanye and the All-Stars single, Monster, yet. But I need to...Kanye himself said it's amazing. So it must be, right?

Monday Musings, No. 2, Vol. 19

'Tis a gymkatatastic Monday here at work. Our newly remodeled fitness center opened today with a super-fun open house and demos of the new equipment for us worker nerds. I am stoked about this new facility, except it means that I am officially out of excuses to not work out. Not with a fully equipped and awesome gym just down the stairs from where I sit all the live-long day. Sweatin' to the oldies musings below:

I went with Ellie to the outlet mall on Saturday. The husband was spending the day and evening in Seattle for a football game, so we girls went shopping. I spent way too much money, but got lots of clothes in the next size up to last her 'til next spring.

Oh, and Ellie started fussing really loud as we were finishing up our economic stimulus and I found out why when we got to the car. She pee-pants'd herself, aka leaked through her diaper. Yep, that sucked.

I wish clementines were on sale more often. I love them.

My engagement ring needs a good cleaning. And my car needs a good oil change. Ugh, maintenance of this stuff is such a first world problem.

Pandora on the iPhone is awesome. I love it. I use it in the mornings while I'm getting ready in the bathroom. The acoustics in there are pretty solid.

My new nickname for Ellie is "the Terrorizer" (thank you, Will-Ferrell-as-Dubya for the inspiration)...she rallies around the house, screaming at the top of her lungs, chasing us from room to room. Terrorizing.

Boris is not as happy about the human puppy's swift moves as she is. He just sits there and stares at her, like he's not sure what to do. Terrorized.

I'm writing down my weight loss goal for posterity's sake, and also to motivate me: 15 lbs in 3 months. Boom.

We have no plans for Labor Day weekend and that is awesome. And because Ellie's daycare takes the Tuesday after LD off as an 'in-service' day, I get a 4-day weekend of NO PLANS! Maybe she and I will rally out to Tillamook that day.

No more teeth have appeared in the baby's mouf, but man, they've gotta be RIGHT THERE! I wish they'd just come out already. I think Ellie does too.

I kinda want to be Joan Harris (from Mad Men) for Halloween. I wonder if they sell non-cheesy MM character costumes online.

Also, as we rapidly approach fall, I'm considering going darker with my hair. I thought about blonde-izing it, but I think darker would be less work since it's already heading towards full-on auburn anyway.

Saw the cover art for Tay-Tay Swift's new album...could be better. A lot better.

NBA season starts in a couple of months. I'm excited...but I'm wondering how much fun Ellie will be at the games now that she's fully mobile. I have a feeling we'll be spending more time cruising the concourse than actually watching games.

I am totally intrigued by the new spin-pin thingy from Goody. I keep seeing the commercials and I really want to get a package of them to see if they work. I hate bobby pins.

PS: Here's my new Mad Men Yourself avatar. Not bad, eh? :)

My Stress Solution, aka Free Gift Card From Work

Okay, so at my company (hereafter called "Initrode"), we have a pretty sweet incentive program to encourage us employees to be more proactive about our health. I think of the program as a win-win-win: Initrode saves money on insurance premiums, which trickle down to us in the form of cheaper policies, AND we get gift cards for meeting program goals.

Honestly, I'm the most motivated by the gift cards. Okay, and the $250 credit I get on my monthly premiums next year for completing the incentive program.

Part of my health assessment (one gift card!) and subsequent health assessment review with a coach (one more gift card!) led me to realize that I need to take charge of my stress. See, I have anxiety - yep, officially diagnosed by a MHP and all that - so it's really best if I manage stress myself or else I have to get Happy Pills and I don't want those. The health coach told me that if I can complete a program for managing stress called - wait for it - My Stress Solution, I can get a THIRD gift card! Yahooeeeeeeey!

So a few weeks ago, I started this program. It's self-directed and really easy. Every week, I get an email reminder to go to the program's site (via a portal provided by Initrode) and read some articles about stress management and document current stressors and take a quiz or two to identify how I respond to stress, what causes me stress, etc. I'm about halfway through the program now and ironically, I'm stressed out. About my gift card.

I only have until the middle of next month to submit my completion of the program to qualify for that third and final gift card. If I don't make it, I don't get the card. That stresses me out. Normally, I'm all for some good ol' fashioned irony, but seriously. I haven't given up on My Stress Solution, but I'm not sure all the work I'm doing is going to negate the stress I feel when I think about missing out on that last gift card.

Monday Musings, No. 2, Vol. 18

Happy Monday everyone! Today is a milestone day in our house...Ellie is officially 2/3 of the way through her first year of life :) That's right, we now have an 8 month old little lady on our hands. I use the term "lady" loosely, however, because she's quite the pistol and isn't overly concerned with being remotely ladylike. Ah, to be a baby. Musings commence:

Along with reaching 8mos of age, Ellie is now full-on crawling. Yep, our lives are never gonna be the same. The husband put cabinet latches on all the low kitchen cabinets and we are shutting off the doors to our office and 1/2 bath downstairs. Outlet covers were installed weeks ago when the scooting/rolling commenced.
We need to order the photos from our 6mo shoot tonight. At least that way our Christmas shopping is done for just about everyone on our list.
Big news on the work front. I have an interview for a great job (still at the same company...same group, actually) this week so fingers and toes are crossed. I need a change of pace!
Ellie being 4 months away from her 1st birthday reminded me that I'll be 30 in 4 months. Oh gads. That sounds so old.
I discovered this weekend that there is a good, always sunny spot to plant roses in our backyard. So I'll be working on that.
Kanye West is the best tweeter in the universe. #predictingkanyetweets
I have an obsession with picture frames. I would own a thousand of them if the husband would allow it.
Madden '11 is released tomorrow. Oh no.
But, I also have a 90min massage scheduled for tomorrow evening, thanks to the husband. He's the best.
Last week, I wanted a Blizzard. This week I want a blackberry shake from Burgerville. Damn.
The gym at work opens in two weeks...time to shape up, no excuses.
I think my fantasy football draft is in a couple of weeks. I should check with the Commish (aka the husband) about that. I have the first pick!
Hard to believe summer is almost gone. This time of year I tend to overlisten to Dashboard's "Dusk and Summer" CD because I'm lame like that.

Monday Musings, No. 2, Vol. 17

I didn't post last week (man, this is getting to be a familiar start to my posts lately!) because the Little Lady, the Boris dog, and I headed out to Lewiston while the husband was in Israel for work. I had already taken last week as vacation, so I figured why not go see the family since the mister is halfway around the world? Musings are go:

Driving over 300 miles with a baby and a dog and just yourself in the car is interesting, to say the least. Ellie is not a fan of being in her carseat for longer than a couple of hours at a time, so stops were frequent and necessary. Luckily, I wised up for the return trip and drove home after her bedtime bottle, arriving back in Portland in 5.5 hours while she slept the entire way. Best. idea. ever.
The little lady is not so little anymore...we have an official EIGHTEEN pounder on our hands now! Her little rolls and chub are so amazing, I just love them. And they are good padding for her, since she's all over the place these days.
The weather is so nice today. I wish I weren't at work.
Ellie's at her new daycare for the first time today. I think it's going well...I haven't gotten a phone call yet to the contrary!
I still love my iPhone. It was my link to the outside world when in Lewiston, since we stayed with my g-rents and they don't have internet service.
Also, if you are in Lewiston and have not had the Big Kahuna from Southway Pizzeria, get some. Thank me later.
When will Ellie stop barfing? Srsly.
I really want a Blizzard, but I also want to lose 8 more pounds. Decisions, decisions.
The best part of back to school time is the sales on snacks. I love getting a bajillion boxes of granola bars on sale.
Product Pimpage Alert: The Aveda Deep Cleansing Herbal Clay Masque is INCREDIBLE. I highly recommend it. My skin is smoother than ever.
FUBSU and your lame-ass school president.
Football season is almost upon us...getcha popcorn ready, child please.

Monday Musings, No. 2, Vol. 16

Sorry about the blogging absence last week. I was kinda busy with work stuff, and on the homefront, things were just chugging along so I didn't have much of note to really relay here to you faithful readers. But I've got some updates and musings to post now, so here goes:

This is the last week my sister-nanny will be here. Boo! She leaves on Wednesday and I don't want her to leave. Neither does Ellie or the husband. But I guess she needs that silly 'college edumacation' or whatever. We are so grateful for her help and will miss her so much!
I wish oranges were a less labor-intensive food, because I do like them.
The baby is still growin' and learnin'...she's thisclose to actual crawling, but she is able to motor around pretty well by scooting/turning/rolling as she masters the on-all-fours technique.
Babbling is a new and fun skill right now as well. She loves to talk, mostly to her best friends...Boris and her exersaucer toys.
I should keep Diet Dr. Pepper in the house more often. It's so delicious.
Sushi for dinner tonight! Hooray!
The husband and I are meeting with an adoption agency this evening to assess our chances of being adoptive parents. I hope it goes well...having to be pregnant again would suck.
Oh, thanks for nothing Steve Jobs. We already have cases on our iPhone 4s so the 'free' guard for the sides - that will alleviate antenna/reception issues, according to them - is worthless! Boo-urns.
FTR, my iPhone 4 has worked pretty well and even better since putting a case on it. I still wanted a recall so I could trade mine in for a white one.
I got my first pedicure and facial last Sunday...so amazing! I am now addicted. I bet the husband is cranky that he got me a spa day now!
Also, the Aveda herbal clay masque is incredible. Makes my face super-smooth.
Chubby baby cheeks are the best. Ellie's in particular.

Tuesday Musings, No. 2, Vol. 15

Darn three-day weekends messing with my blogging schedule. Apologies for not posting yesterday, I didn't even realize it was Monday until this morning, when I realized it was Tuesday. Yeah. I'm confused too. Time for some confusing musings...

Ellie is officially a prize heifer-in-training. She weighs around 16.5 lbs!! Just under a month ago, she weighed in at 15lbs even at her 6mo checkup. Holy cow.
And we started on yogurt a few times a day...it's helped with her digestion, but I think we overdosed her this weekend and her poor tummy was in fits yesterday. So we are gonna cut back to once a day and see if that improves things for her. She has such a delicate constitution.
It was a very fun holiday weekend. The sister-nanny's boyfriend ("D") came over and we enjoyed taking him around. Plus it gave us an excuse to hit up Voodoo Donuts, which I love.
I had forgotten there was a World Cup match today until I was walking to the cafe for a soda this afternoon and suddenly heard a loud cheer erupt in there. Our company set up extra flat-screen TVs for the duration of the WC and the matches attract quite a crowd.
100 calorie kettle corn is wonderful for snackage.
Portland is finally experiencing summer temps this week (upper 80s-mid 90s) and I'm excited. I've missed the heat. And we have A/C.
So far I still love my new iPhone. A few dropped calls here and there, but oh well.
My grandma and aunt and cousin are coming through here next week and they are going to spend some time with us and Ellie. I'm super excited - I really miss my grandma especially.

And lastly, I am an aunt for the first time!!! My brother-in-law and his wife had their first baby, a little girl, on Friday afternoon. She is the exact same size as Ellie when she was born (although, their little lady was about 2-3wks early), and cute as a bug. We can't wait to meet her :)

Tuesday iPhone Awesomeness

I forgot my Monday post (not that I've EVER done that before...) because I've been preoccupied with the iPhone 4 launch this week. Yeah, some of you got it last week b/c you pre-ordered...well, we didn't have that option. Our Verizon contract was up on Sunday so we had to wait until today to get the phones in-store and set up AT&T accounts.

The husband got up very early this morning and was in line by 5am at our local AT&T store waiting for our turn to get the iPhone. Well, he was like, the 15th person in line. AT 5 AM!! Goodness. I was at home, getting ready for the day and just about to wake up the baby bear when he called and told me I had to get down to the store ASAP if I wanted a phone. Even though we share an account, it was only one iPhone per person. Drat! So I woke up my awesome sister-nanny, kissed the kiddo, handed her over and bailed out the door. I made it to the AT&T store in 10 minutes. No lie.

After a 40 minute wait, we finally got inside and got our new phones. I'm officially in love with this thing. The screen is amazingly crisp and clear and I love the touch interface. We haven't tried the FaceTime video chat, but I suspect we will at some point. I've already downloaded the Facebook app (and FarmVille, don't judge me!) and I'll need to sync it with my iTunes account here soon.

So far I haven't had any issues, but I've only been able to dink around with it for 3 hours. Stay tuned for any iPhone rants and/or diatribes in coming days and weeks.

Monday Musings, No. 2, Vol. 14

First of all, big weekend here at the homestead. Our wedding anniversary (six years!) was on Saturday, then Father's Day on Sunday and today is the husband's 29th birthday. Sheesh...I'm referring to this phenomenon as Trifecta 2010 and it has been something else. Our next kid will have to a spring arrival to counteract our summer and winter holiday/birthday extravaganzas. Holidayed-out musings below:

First, a big congrats to my friend KKB and her husband on the birth of their new baby boy, Sam, this morning! Yeah, he shares a b-day with the husband :)
Also, Sam is becoming quite a popular babeh name lately.
We're grilling up some brats for dinner tonight and serving them on Hefeweizen buns. These buns are fabulous. If you live in the Portland area, go to New Seasons and get them.
My French cube-neighbor was really pissed about France losing in the World Cup last week. It was hilarious to listen to him...the angrier he gets, the thicker and more obnoxious his accent gets. I love it.
We have our family photos on Friday. I still haven't gotten my hair cut for them. Ugh. I need to - and maybe throw some highlights up in this...my hair is so much darker than it was before Ellie was born. Wacky hormones.
In related Ellie news: WE HAVE A TOOTH!!! Yep, it cut through last week and I was so excited. Until today, when I foolishly stuck my finger in her mouth and she chomped down on it with that sharp little tooth. Ouch.
Teething continues, as does related fussiness and napping issues. Oh well. This too shall pass.
I was told to get Baby Mum-Mums for teething but hadn't found them until I was grocery shopping at Fred Meyer yesterday. Ellie loves them! So does my sister, who wants to dip them in Nutella for a snack.
I'm getting very excited for 4th of July. We go to St. Paul every year and hang out at my BFF's sister and brother-in-law's place and wander the rodeo/carnival grounds and eat gross fatty food and people watch and drink beer and it's a good time. I think Ellie will like it, too. She's got her 4th of July gear (thank you, Carters and Fred Meyer!) all ready to go.
Still getting sucked into Farmville. Stupid, stupid, stupid me. Wanna be my neighbor on F-ville? Send me a request on FB. LOL, OMG.
The kiddo is still working on her crawling skillz. She's getting so close to full mobility. Eek.
We get our iPhones this week. I am so excited. The husband is going to our nearest AT&T store at 6am to stand in line with a bunch of other nerds. Ah, the things we do for technology.

Monday Musings, No. 2, Vol. 13

It was an awesome weekend here, finally. Temps in the 80s, sunny...it was summer. Today, however, is sucky and cloudy and not warm. At least we got the good stuff for the weekend. Ellie and I enjoyed it, but the husband had to work in the yard, so I don't think he got as much enjoyment from the sun and heat as we girls did. Sucks to be him. Musings are happening:

We reached a decision to re-home Maddie. Ideally, she will stay with the lady who runs the rescue we sent her to, but we don't know yet. Not an easy choice, but we feel it's the right one. I hate being a grownup sometimes.
Pureed some mangoes for the kiddo this weekend. If she doesn't like them, I will eat them. Or maybe use them in a recipe. They are that good.
Teething sucks. Especially when the kiddo's teeth are still not showing. The symptoms are mounting but no teeth. Gah.
I get a big-ass fountain cup of Sprite Zero every day from the work cafe after lunch. I love it.
This season of Friday Night Lights is so good. Best show on TV, now that Lost is no more.
I'm ashamed to admit this, but I got stuck on Farmville this weekend. I hate myself for this.
Chunk La Funk is killing me lately. She likes to be held a lot (see: teething) but dang if her fatness isn't killing my arms. And she hates her sling, so maybe I'll just plop her in the Baby Bjorn more often. I can't keep carrying her around all the time. I get arm cramps.
T-minus two weeks until we get iPhones. Oh yeah.
There is a French dude who sits over the wall from me at work now. His accent KILLS me. I love it.
I don't know if I gave a stat update on Ellie after her 6mo check last week, but she's up to 15lbs (25th percentile)! That's why she kills my arms lately. Her head is still rather small, but the doc isn't worried.