Almost time for Ho Hos

We're getting ready for the Ho, Ho, Hos...almost. Geek #2 (me) is dealing with finals, Geek #1 is catching up on everything from the fall, and Muffinator is busy being a busy Muffin. But we've got a tree up and will perhaps get house lights up this week.

Mostly we're excited about visiting folks for the holiday break. We can't wait show off Muffin's new skills, but we'll try to leave her penny swallowing trick at home.

Everyone is talking about how much the economy sucks this year, which admittedly does put a damper on fun, festive, giving spirits. But in our case, we're just as broke as last year, so there doesn't seem to be much difference. :-o

And yes, as Geek #1 asks, where is our family bailout? I guess that'll have to come from a Lotto ticket, perhaps, as we seem to have run out of estranged, benevolent rich relatives. So, for now, we'll just have to celebrate the old-fashioned way...with family, love, and cookies!

P.S. What is Muffin doing in that picture? Why putting chocolate covered raisins between her toes, of course! Forget Christmas, food play is more fun!

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Oh, you mean fall involves leaves?

This weekend, Geek #1 and I performed the annual leaf roundup from the front and back yards... the big one. Requiring him to scale the roof with the neighbor's leaf blower and heavy duty gloves to clean the gutters. Necessitating us to make at least 10 trips with the tarp full of leaves.


Thank goodness Geek #1 is big, strong, and willing - and that would be a funny double entendre if either one of us had any energy left after pulling major subsets of muscles through this damned process.

The funny part will be watching the expressions on the poor waste collectors as they come by with the leaf vacuum truck. Or no, on second thought, I don't want to see that. Muffin was pretty impressed, though and enjoyed climbing the tree to look down on the leaves.



But for reference, here is a picture of our neighbor's 'normal' size leaf piles. We chose our house in large part for the beautiful old trees that distinguished the neighborhood from those hideous, tree-less suburban developments. Now we want a condo!

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Wow - News Happened!

Hey, have you heard? Barack Obama was elected to be the next U.S. president!!!! I've got to email and phone everyone and tell them! This is amazing! Even North Carolina is no longer a red state...what a crazy election! Wow!!!!

We sure hope that this change will mean great things for our nation.

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Stasis...or Static...or Stuck ???

Geek #1 and I have been waiting to update the blog so we could include new news. Big news. Happy news. Interesting news. Any news. But...so far, no news.

Of course, life happens in between the news-making times. Muffin is getting better at talking, climbing, getting into trouble, being cute, etc. We're doing things, little things mostly, the normal errands of life. We've done some 'big' things like visit the county and state fairs. We've been to the pool a few times. Last night I took Muffin to the public library for a 'Spooktacular' event that wasn't particularly spooky, but it was definitely exciting for toddlers to see so many other short people in costumes.

But aside from waiting to reveal personal news, I think we're holding our breath with the country waiting for the 'final' election news to be released next week. We saw Joe Biden speak on campus this week and it was pretty inspiring and gave us more confidence in the need for Obama's Change. Even if the nation only improves a bit -- in terms of economy, reputation, environmental abuses, charity, justice, etc. -- every little bit helps, right? I hope. We hope.

When we get news, we'll let you know and celebrate. When we get the nation's news on Tuesday night, I hope the world will know and celebrate.

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Fall - Or when all heck breaks loose

I (the shorter geek - #2) used to look forward to fall as a time of buying school supplies and settling into the new school year. Now, the Muffinator is settling into school and our schedules are fairly nuts with work, classes, preschool, playdates, and planning for autumnal holidays.

We actually started discussing Muffin's Halloween costume - almost 2 months early! What's up with that? Of course, discussions do not automatically lead to purchases or preparations, so we still have some time to procrastinate the follow-through part. It is rather tricky to find the right costume to be worn at a morning preschool party in North Carolina. To date, I've ruled out (1) anything furry and hot, (2) anything tacky and 'princessy', (3) anything actually scary to two year olds, (4) anything with face paint. That leaves what? That leaves us a fun challenge! I guess you'll just have to come back to the blog after Halloween...

School has started for all of us to some degree and mostly that just means there is more opportunity for illness to be spread. Students of all ages are just germy buggers. Muffin has contracted 'Hand, Foot, and Mouth' disease (not it isn't Hoof and Mouth and is not spread by sucking her toes). Geek #1 has stress symptoms and I just want to send in my resignation papers...again. But having some quiet time while Muffin is in preschool really has helped me be happier.

And remember, on some fall days, you can only feel better when hugging a ball while swinging.

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Fire Update & Other News

Our neighbor is doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances. She was checked out at the hospital for smoke inhalation and released within a few hours. On top of the smoking and emphysema, she also suffers from a leaky heart valve and is due for heart surgery in the next month or two, so her health was rather precarious before the fire. Her poor home is also in sorry shape and is currently being cleaned out by a disaster cleanup crew while she and her extended family members try to salvage what they can. As of yesterday, she was talking about fixing it up and returning to live in it, eventually, but I guess that will depend in part on the insurance settlement. For now, she'll be living in a long-term stay hotel.

In other news, Muffin and Geek #2 attended preschool orientation today and she had a great time playing with all of the toys and looking at all of the children. She'll start attending on M/W/F next week and should have a blast with all the activities and very sweet teachers. And I, Geek #2, will get 3 mornings a week to actually do things! Yippee!

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Some Mornings are More Exciting

First, the good news: Our neighbor is fine. We're fine. Our house is fine.

The bad: our neighbor's house caught fire this morning and she managed to call 911 before escaping with her life. More bad: she started it by smoking. Now, we were worried that she was going to blow up her house when we saw the oxygen tanks delivered last week (to help with her emphysema and enlarged heart) because she's a smoker. But apparently she just set the couch on fire with a cigarette and it spread from there.

To combat the fire, there were 4 large firetrucks, 3 ambulances, lots of fire chiefs, and an entire firefighter rookie class of 20 guys or so, on our quiet little street. Very active for a while, but they've all left except for a small truck with two guys who seem to be watching the house for outbreaks.

I'm attaching a couple pics of the fire crew and one of the back of our neighbor's house showing what look like drapes hanging down, but is actually the melted vinyl siding from her soffit. The smoke was billowing out the ridge vents along the roof, the fire went up into the attic and the house appears to be totaled on the inside.

Muffin thought it was quite interesting to see all the firefighters she's read about in books and she saw both the new ECU Pirate theme fire truck plus normal red trucks. It is now 9:30 AM and I think we'll call it a day...

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Beachy!

We took the Muffin to the beach and the aquarium on Saturday. I love taking her to places and just sitting back and watching her reaction to the things going on around her. She seems like such a kid now and no longer a baby that sometimes I get kind of sad.

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Another Year Older and Wiser, or Just Older?

Well, Geek 2 here again. I just had another birthday. I'd like to think I'm another year wiser than at this point last year. But maybe I'm just more experienced. As I told Geek #1 yesterday, with age comes experience.

Now, I've got the experience to know that if I hand Muffin a peanut butter sandwich, I must also remove Mr. Bun Bun from the vicinity or we get a sticky bunny. I did not know this quite so well last year.

Of course, back then she wasn't eating much peanut butter and certainly not like now when she prefers to scrape the stuff off the bread or crackers or whatever. Apparently those items are merely peanut butter delivery devices, and she's just as happy with a spoonful of the stuff.

See...now I'm experienced. But is that true wisdom? Not likely. All it really does is make me long for the days when I could lose myself in the magic and dizziness of a park swing, like Muffin.

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The Agony and the Wet-stacy

What a week...we'll skip all the gruesome details and just get to where the Muffin meets the road, I mean hose. Geek #1 and I introduced her to the joys of splashing in a sprinkler today since our fair city had cooled to a mild 93 and we didn't feel like setting up the baby pool.

She, of course, loved it. Loved seeing it, feeling it, drinking from it, getting to soak her hair, clothes, and diaper, loved dancing in it. We had as much of a blast watching her. Lovely.

And then there was the other water adventure. The one where Geek #1 decided to find out why she was being so mysteriously quiet this evening as he was checking work email and I was cleaning cat barf out of the rug. And where was the darling? In the master bathroom - already a bad sign.

But when I followed my partner's hysterical laughter I understood both the quiet and the hysteria. Muffin, dear, dear Muffin, was soaked head to toe - again - from dipping her head in the toilet. Then she must have decided to help clean and stuffed an entire bathrug into the toilet bowl. Luckily (I guess) only one would fit.

And in all this mess, where was the toilet lock - the one designed to keep her out of the bowl? In her hands while she chewed on it. But don't take my word for it, we've got photographic evidence.




Again, there are some things they just really don't mention in all the baby books.

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OMGWTFLOL autistic!

Just a quick note. I took Fiona to the new universal access playground yesterday and there were a gaggle of autistic kids there. One was wearing a Knights who say Ni Monty Python and the Holy Grail shirt.

Funny? Oh heck yes.
Did you laugh? Not until I got home.
Going to hell? Absolutely.

For those of you who don't understand the joke... look at this.

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Busy business

Most of our pictures for April look like these - either Fiona is completely absorbed by an activity (for 5 minutes) like with her new Thomas train or she's moving - fast! We've visited so many parks in an attempt to wear her out and provide interaction with other kids that she is bored if we're not at a park. Silly us.

Of course, once at a park, she'll spend 20 minutes or so on the swings while assessing the situation, watching the other kids, and figuring out her next plan of attack. She's both brave (or maybe fearless) about climbing anything and cautious about new people and new places (sort of).

Of course, the big question right now is...what is she getting into and where in the house is she??? Geek #2 better go find out...

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Time Marched On...

...without a new blog entry for a month, apparently. We'll just leave it as - hey, we're busy parents in this crazy world. If a lag of a month bothers you, tough.

No, can't do that, must elaborate. We went to Minnesota for spring break, returned to hectic work schedules, hosted one set of grandparents, and are preparing for more work hecticity with job hires and finals (sure, its a word, it appears on the Internet!) and another grandparent visit this weekend.

Of course, we're preparing by trying to recover from a cold/flu combo, a cold and poison ivy combo, and a new tooth, respectively. Yikes, and we're the ones who are okay.

Basically, we're learning we are so grateful for not being single parents having to deal with the scheduling and illnesses alone. Of course, we become much more pathetic, whiny folks when combined, but oh well, it is family bliss.

Well, blissful except for the potty training parts where Muffin uses a diaper, takes it off, and smears material around or takes the diaper off first and then pees. Sigh...thank goodness our carpets were already highly damaged!

Anyway, just a note to say hi to our fans, all two of you. Cheers!

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Disc Golfing with a Muffin

In the last month or so I have taken to playing disc golf with some of the folks from work. Though it can be just as frustrating as ball golf, it's a heck of a lot cheaper (and geekier). After playing in Kinston on Saturday with the fellas, V and Muffin accompanied me on the course for an early Sunday round. The top image is the Muffin sitting atop of the third "hole". She likes to watch the discs fly and then bang on the chains.

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Not the Mail Man's Kid

Thought I'd post these together so those of you unfamiliar with Geek 1's baby pictures can compare him to his child. This is apparently him on his second birthday. And here is Muffin at 16-17 months. She's got most of his looks and his outgoing nature. And her utter lack of fear of heights did not come from me!
We're very excited about the upcoming Minnesota trip - we can't wait to meet Muffin's new cousin Michael and to show the grandparents all the new tricks. Yesterday she stood on the keyboard drawer in my desk in order to reach a cup of pens and scissors - scary stuff!

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A Workaday Life

Mama Geek here:
So, brother Ben starts his days at 5 am. Daddy Geek is asleep on the couch with Muffin who woke up from her sound sleep with a nightmare.

And now that is almost 11 pm and I've just finished writing a test for the kiddos at the university, I can head to bed. My day started relatively late, at 7 am - well, really at 6 am with a nightmare about teaching, ugh. Tomorrow, during my 'rest period' - AKA Muffin's nap-time - I'll get to grade the tests from the kiddos at the community college.

This is the life of working parents?!?!? Dagnabbit, no wonder we're all so tired as a nation!

I'm not even sure if this post will be coherent. Don't care, either. Nope, going to bed...oh, but I'll post some pics of Muffin first.

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PAD me ASAP

Things have been a touch busy at work of late. I'm up for my first reappointment review this semester. As part of the reappointment evaluation, I had to complete what the university calls a PAD (Personal Action Dossier). Suffice it to say that putting together the PAD was unpleasant. As you can see from the included photo, my office became a sea of papers as I tried to document what I have done for the last 2.5 years here. I kept moving between "huh... this looks pretty good" to "OMGWTF I'm behind!!11!!". Fortunately, it's pretty much finished now. However, as the initial reviewers asked me to include a table of contents when I had, in fact, already included one, I wonder how closely this thing gets looked at anyway. I might just add something to keep them on their toes along the lines of:
2006- Received the Barnum Award for Shameless Self-Promotion and Excellence in Waffle Making.And here is the rest of it.

In other news, it gets chilly here sometimes too. Little kids with toboggans are cute.

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Dislocated Parents?

The trip to the ER was fun...no, it wasn't. That's a lie. But it was educational as we knew one day Muffin would need to visit, given the inherited lack of grace combined with her special lack of fear. Of course, it would have been nice if she waited until she was old enough to tell us what hurt, but eventually we all figured it out - a dislocated elbow. But now she's all better and we're being a bit more careful about her arms to prevent a re-dislocation. Hopefully, the next ER visit will be several years from now.

In the meantime, for fun, check out these websites
for funny baby cartoons:
http://www.c00lstuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/

for funny cat pictures (cat LOLs):
http://icanhascheezburger.com/

for parenting tips:
http://www.parenthacks.com/

for bizarre tech-oriented news and stuff:
http://boingboing.net/

for NC residents and visitors, a county level guide to community based arts, farms, and entertainment:
http://www.homegrownhandmade.com/Default.htm

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All is Sweetness and Light

Maybe clothes really do make the man, or baby. With such an angelic outlook, who could ever suspect Muffin of the following actions?
- pulling cat tails and ears
- eating cat food (and litter - yuck)
- sucking on her dad's shaving cream canister
- whining
- consistently clearing her plate/highchair tray/table by sweeping food onto the floor
- etc., etc., etc.

Somehow, she still remains lovable. Particularly at night, when in pajamas and has just fallen asleep. But also in the morning when she's snuggly, happy, chatty, and the day is newly filled with possibilities. And of course, 99% of the moments between waking and sleeping are terrific. Aw, I'll just stop gushing now. Time for more wine...

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Troll, Muffin, Imp...it all applies

A cute, impish shot from yesterday...just because. Well, if only we knew then that Fiona would pass out last night at 7:30, only to wake up and stay up from 10-11:45 until we brought her into our bed, we'd have really paid attention to the troublesome expression. Sigh...Needless to say, we're a bit tired today.

On the other hand, we're gleefully wondering what we'll get to do with all the money our dear gub'mint looks like it'll be giving in the form of 'tax rebates'. Gee, do we spend it on something imported, like a laptop, or do we pay off debts, which also isn't a 'spending stimulus'? And does it really matter what we do individually, if the nation is borrowing the money anyway? Maybe I'm leaning from babble to rant here; I need a nap.

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The New Muffin Mobile

Here's a pic of our new (2002) Civic in 'Eternal blue' - a beautiful shade. The car is a lot of fun to drive, what with the 5 speed manual and all. Fiona seems to like it too, although she has not yet been able to spread her preferred number of crushed Goldfish and Cheerios throughout the back seat. All in good time...

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Hi from Geek #2

I like the concept of blogs, but as Geek #1 says, the word "blog" is dumb. Oh well. I guess I think of this more as a place for stream of consciousness blather, mostly about Muffin.

This weekend was a big one for us as we bought a new car - a 2002 Honda Civic in a beautiful dark blue (maybe tomorrow I can take a picture of it). Fiona did a great job helping us try out the vehicle and charmed the used car salesman who has a grand-daughter about the same age.

We were hoping Fiona would get to experience her second snowfall as the Saturday predictions called for 1-4 inches, but the few flakes that fell were soon melted. I know that must sound funny to those of you up north.

Just for practice, here is Muffin in front of her new Dora the Explorer play hut and tunnel (gosh, Target Clearance aisles are fun!)

Hm, gotta go, she figured out how to remove her diaper and pajamas...yes, in that order.

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