Aurora Borealis

Most of Friday afternoon and evening, I was sick.  Better yesterday.  Sick again today.  Headachey, nauseous…  With the yard sale coming up, I needed this like I need a hole in the head.  Poor Mr. Tldz wasn’t feeling very well today, either, but he’s stepped up and kept Agent Murphy taken care of, who, fortunately, has been pretty cooperative today.

Mr. Tldz is about to start his third week at the new job.  We’ve made it so far, but it’s hard.  It’s a really long day for him with the commute.  And we miss him during the day.  But I guess we’ll get used to it.  At least he likes the work so far, the people he’s working with, and his boss does seem to be living up to the signs he showed of being a good manager.  And in some minor interactions Mr. Tldz has had with his former employer, we have abundant confirmation that being out of there is a very good thing.

Now I’m going to lay down again.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy.  We ran through Mr. Tldz’s new route to work, and as long as the bus driver on that end up there gets a few functioning brain cells, that should be okay.  We put ourselves on our new morning schedule this week (up at 5:00) and Mr. Tldz has been making sure he can in fact be ready to leave at 6:00.  We’ve done various other things to get him ready, including purchasing some upgrades to his wardrobe.  And I’ve been running around packing in the errands I can that are much easier to do without Agent Murphy in tow while I still had the option of putting him down for a nap and then leaving the house.  (Boy, I’ll sure miss that!)

After he dropped off his work stuff at the Midtown office today, we went out to lunch at Pub 71.  Agent Murphy decided on his own that he would play peek-a-boo with us.  I’m so proud of him for figuring this out.  Using one of the cloth napkins he had managed to nab, he’d cover his face and when we’d say, “Where’s Agent Murphy?”  He’d lower the cloth and laugh as we said, “Peek-a-boo, I see you!”  He’s such a clever, cute boy!

We bought a new (much needed!) mattress set yesterday.  It’ll be delivered tomorrow, and we’re very much looking forward to that.  Hopefully, it’ll make for better sleep so that 5:00 wake up won’t seem quite so early.  Of course, if it’s really comfortable, it’ll be that much harder to leave it behind…

So I guess we’re as ready as we can be for this new job.  But I’m not looking forward to being apart from Mr. Tldz so much.  It’ s funny.  I’ve mentioned to casual acquaintances in passing that Mr. Tldz is changing jobs and losing the ability to work from home that he’s had.  And the responses have pretty much been, “Oh good for you - you get the house back.”  Huh?  I guess I/we must be weird, because that’s not how I’m feeling about it.  Yeah, there are a few things that will be easier not having to accommodate Mr. Tldz’s working here, but compared to all the good stuff we’re losing…  That part of this new job is not a good deal.  I’ll miss having lunch with him every day, and having him give me updates on his day when he comes out for a water break and to give Agent Murphy a hug, and being able to periodically give him a hug and a kiss during the day…

But in time we will adjust, and hopefully this new job will be as good for him/his career as it seems like it will be.  And we’ll work on getting ourselves moved to give him a better commute, which will help a lot with family time.

Today took us to the quad at Oglethorpe, in front of the library.  (I felt like an old-timer.  I found myself referring to Robinson Hall as Faith.  Well, in the old days…)  We met up with Clan McG. and had a nice time.  Even had the added benefit of running into Dr. W. , who was on her way from the library to her office.  And we visited Lyndra’s tree, which is actually looking like a small bush these days.

Foster Mulan had fun playing with Laser Girl and Danger Dude.  Agent Murphy was very cooperative and good-natured during the picnic.  (He ate cauliflower-sweet potatoes.)  And the grown-ups had time to catch up some.

Summer camps were in full swing on campus.  I couldn’t help but think of H.  He’s probably thrilled he’s escaped to the Pacific Northwest with Walgreens!

We got home, put the Agent down for a nap, all got some water, and then I took a little nap, too.  Mr. Tldz had to do a little more (only a little more because he spent several hours overnight attending to pager issues) for work before calling it a day.  We are very much looking forward to his vacation next week!  (The pager gets killed.)

That was yesterday’s agenda.  We got together with N. and her family at the playground area at PDK airport.  I’d heard they’d put in a playground/picnic area, but hadn’t been to it.  Good to check it out.  It’s nice - a good option to have.

I think Foster Mulan enjoyed the opportunity to run around with A. and I.  She even went down the slide, she says.  I was feeding the Agent, so I didn’t see that; but I think we had confirmation of that from one of the other parental figures.  That’s progress - she used to be scared of the slide.  She’d climb up the stairs, then come back down the stairs.

Agent Murphy got to try some watermelon run through the food processor, which renders it not much more than pink water; so I thickened it up with some rice cereal.  Then at home yesterday and today, we’ve been giving him small chunks of watermelon to play with in his “big boy seat.”  With the first batch yesterday, he was mesmerized into silence. (!)  (Of late, he’s been exploring the wonders of his voice - at full volume - at the table.  Elsewhere, too, but it’s particularly ear-splitting when we’re all sitting at the table.)  But he viewed it really as a plaything.  If we’d put a chunk into his mouth, he’d look - I’m not sure, maybe perplexed, or worried, or put out - and then move it around his mouth for a while before letting it fall out.

Mr. Tldz made shortcakes today for the first time.  Excellent!  We had some blueberries and whipped cream with them after lunch.  And then I got a bit of a nap while Agent Murphy took his afternoon nap.  A good day.

My birthday was yesterday, but Mr. Tldz and I went out for dinner on Saturday.  (The restaurant isn’t open on Sundays.)  Yummy Thai food from Phuket.  Leftovers for lunch today.  It was a leisurely meal with no baby in tow.  Yep, it was a big day for Agent Murphy’s half-birthday - he stayed with a babysitter for the first time.  His Aunty M. was nice enough to come over for the evening, and apparently he comported himself well.

Even though it was a day early, I got to open my presents when we got home - Alton Brown’s kitchen manual for organizing our own recipes and kitchen notes and Joseph and Chico.  An authorized biography of the pope for children written from the perspective of a cat he used to own - how cool is that?!?  A quick glance at it suggests it will be a lot of fun and well worth reading.

Yesterday, we enjoyed sweet tea - our first batch of sun tea of the year.  That went along with leftovers for lunch - green tomato pie and barbcued green beans.  Gosh, you’d think I was a Southerner or something!  Then it was homemade pizza for dinner, followed by chess pie.  We also made an egg custard pie for the week, so we’ll be able to compare and contrast the pretty similar recipes.

All in all, a lovely weekend.

Just another day in another week at the Tldz household.  I’ve been feeling a little headachy and not very productive today.

Agent Murphy took in a pretty full complement of food.  But he was pretty sneaky during what we’re trying to establish as his formal afternoon nap time.  Very quietly, he got on his tummy and turned around in his crib and was trying to figure out how to get to his toys which were stashed down at the foot of his crib.  I peeked in expecting to see my sleeping baby, and was greeted by a big grin instead.  Mind you, this was after he drank his lunch practically in his sleep.  He really struggled to be awake enough to eat.  But he did eventually take a little nap.

Had a phone conversation with K. this evening, Agent Murphy’s godmother.  Good to catch up with her.

Homemade calzones hold up pretty well as leftovers; but they’re better fresh.

Yesterday I cleaned the bathrooms and scrubbed the kitchen floor.  Some of my least favorite chores.  But they earned me a back rub from Mr. Tldz last night.  Lovely.

Everything looked good at today’s appointment with the midwife - and the perky midwife intern.  Apparently, the Bean is currently curled up in a rather sideways position, feet on my left side, head on my right.  But I guess that’s a relatively small rotation to a head down position, so hopefully that will happen in the next couple of weeks.  Sideways helps explain why I’ve been feeling movement where I have.

I think Garbanzo may have been a little sleepy when we went in.  Heartbeat was initially only 140.  After she used the doppler for a while, it went back up to its more normal 150.  “Hey, it’s that noisy machine again!”  Poor baby.

In two weeks I have the group B strep test done (let’s hope for a negative!), and then I think I start going in every week.

Now that Mr. Tldz’s shoulder is feeling mostly better, the changing table assembly is in progress, hopefully to be finished tonight.  Then we tackle the crib.  (Poor Addy must be beside herself with the state of the nursery.)  And there’s lots of baby laundry to be washed to be ready.  So you hang out until at least the 18th of November, okay ‘Banzo?