Bad

First bad work day since I've been back. Everything I did today went sideways into the crap. The crap folks. THE CRAP. It started out with me waking up late and rushing to work with a headache, bad slept on hair and that puffy, sleepy face you get when you don't wake up properly. It didn't get any better.

bitchy bitchy bitch bitchity bitch

Now it's over.

I pray that tomorrow is not tainted by it's proximity to today.

date night

Justin was calling this my 'come hither' look. I'm hoping it's really not. If it is, I've lost my touch. But I like the photo.

mmmmmm....sushi

20

11) My first real crush was a guy named Jimmy Drake. We hung out for a while but he really liked quiet girls. The kicker is that I was trying so hard for him to like me (cool etc) that I totally missed this. I was 13 or so at the time.

12) I used to steal gum from the local corner store.

13) I was pretty sure I was going to hell for it, but it didn't stop me.

14) I honestly thought about becoming a nun once.

15) My feelings hurt easily.

16) I love comic books and sci-fi novels. I'm pretty much a nerd. This wasn't cool in any way shape or form when I was young.

17) I love AC/DC.

18) I hate jogging pants.

19) I have a very poor intuitive sense of direction but,

20) I'm good at reading maps.

The perfect day

Yesterday was a wonderful day. It was sunny and lovely and Snoopy, Nate, Justin and me spent it together. It was a perfect mix of getting stuff done and spending time together. Justin, lovely man that he is, let me sleep in, made me coffee and vacuumed. How wonderful is that? We had a late lunch at Sushi Yama and Nate ate his first piece of sushi (a yam roll with shredded daikon and shitake mushroom). I gave it to him thinking he would play with it and instead he ate the whole thing, seaweed and all! And then he ate another half piece! My boy loves the sushi. We came home and all had naps and then Justin and I went out for an honest to goodness date! We went to Kalamata and had lovely lamb dinners and talked about stuff. Just stuff. But just being able to sit and chat alone and away from the house was pure loveliness. Lots of it was about Nate, but really that's to be expected. The restaurant we went to was the last dinner I ever had as a non-mommy. I went into labour about five hours after we ate there with friends. Eleven months later the whole world has changed. For the better.

I had a wonderful day.

And a great post to be my 100th.

His "Ginn face"

10

In the spirit of MamaT's list posted on her site a while ago, I'm wanting to share a hundred things about myself. But I think it might strain my brain so I'm going to do it ten at a time.

1) I was originally supposed to have been named Laurie, but my grandfather wouldn't hear of it, so Patty was my mom's second choice.

2) When I was little my brother and I made up a story about a spider who lived in the wall named Fang. We would send tribute to him every once in a while to make sure he didn't come out (we were and are both scared of spiders).

3) I like pineapple and pizza, but not pineapple on my pizza.

4) I've never read War and Peace

5) I love fall, its my absolute favorite time of year.

6) I am allergic to peaches.

7) I was born in the year of the dog.

8) I am a Scorpio.

9) I failed grade 12 math.

10) I have been and still am a teeny bit afraid of skeletons.

Nate the great

has taken his first steps.

Actually, he took a couple a while ago but I wanted to make sure that they weren't total flukes before bragging about it. Now he is up to as many as four before he falls on his ass. Personally I believe that he could take more steps if he actually believed he could walk. We think it rocks, but Nate is convinced, I think, that crawling is still the fastest mode of conveying himself from one place to another.

Every night, after Justin gives him a bath, I give Nate a bottle and sing to him before he goes to sleep. I have discovered that I know very few children's songs...or lullabies...or songs I know all the words to. So sometimes I just make them up. Or sometimes they are very innapropriate. Or sometimes while I'm trying to think of something, songs will just pop into my head. Since he was born Justin and I have sung the wagon wheel song from the Old Crow Medicine Show, and Barrett's Privateers, that old Stan Rogers favorite. More recently the list has included:

The hockey night in Canada theme

Rio (Duran Duran)

Hotel California (The Eagles)

General Taylor (folk tune made popular by Great Big Sea)

I Wanna be Sedated (Ramones)

anything I can remember by Sinead O'Connor (how's that for setting the bar high)

Farewell to Nova Scotia

numerous songs by The Cure

He seems to like just about anything if you sing it while rocking him, and it keeps me from getting bored. I do realise though that I will have to try to learn better songs for the future. I have made a start with Raffi, but those songs I only seem to remember when I'm in the middle of a meeting at work, or singing to myself in my cubicle.

Nice one, Tirade.

Weekend Happy Dance!!!

So Justin had a dream last night that we had two Nathanials. I think he viewed it more as a nightmare, and I can see what he means. Nate has boundless amounts of energy. It is a cheerful and fun energy, but the kid is like the frickin energizer bunny (sans drum), and his poor tired old parents find it hard to keep up with him. He's been climbing the stairs a lot lately, and has figured out how to climb other objects as well. We are absolutely proud and totally dismayed by this at the same time. I'm also going to yank on my proud mommy hat and tell you another thing that my child has started doing lately. He puts himself to sleep!!!!! Yes indeedy, they told us this day would come but I didn't believe it! At bedtime we give him a bottle and cuddle him when he finishes it for a little bit. Then we put him into his crib and cover him up. Nate usually grabs his sucky, puts his head down and closes his eyes!!!!!!! That's it y'all! he just goes to sleep. It may not last, but who the hell cares. It is fracking fabulous for as long as it lasts.

I read a whole book last night after I put Nate to bed. This is a luxury that I have not had for a very long time (or so it seems). I remember the good old days of reading far into the night. It wasn't a particularly literary book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I left the house in a shambles, totally ignored the phone, laundry etc and just read. It was heaven.

Unfortunately all that stuff still needs to be done.

Still alive

Goddamnit! I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything. I apologise to all of the three of y'all or so who look me up from time to time. I'm settling in nicely to the life of working in an office again. Cubicle living is okay. EXCEPT. It is too frickin hot, all the time hot. Hot hot hot. Like the-sweat-on-my-ass-has-sweat-on-it's-ass hot. See, you can't please all o' the folks all o' the time, and some people are actually cold in the hot box of heatedness that is my daily environment. The temperature in the office is of continuous discussion by those who dwell in the cubes. But y'all that sucker is hot.

The other thing is that I am surrounded by the loveliest women at work, both in disposition and countenance. I feel so frumpy and all crazy mommy-like and I'm flanked by twenty somethings who have all the latest boots and fashiony gear and have gorgeous hair and actually have and take the time to wear make-up to work. ARRRRGHHH! They are such great people that I can't possibly hold it against them.

And ain't that a pisser?

This work thing

really cuts into my blogging. I'm a tired little federal employee at the end of the day. I'm liking it, though. The best thing is the people. I'm pretty much a people oriented person (a pop if you will). I like chatting and being around folks in general.

Nate is snotty snotty snotty. Where does all the stuff come from? There is a constant stream of mucus dripping out of his tiny button nose. He is standing up all by himself, bouncing up and down, and balancing pretty well. I'm afraid this will very soon morph into walking.

More tomorrow, tired girl has scrambled brains

Happy first day!

I don't really have any resolutions cause I resolved long ago to not have any resolutions. We've had a good year this past year and just want things to keep going on. I have a tid bit of advice for just about everyone I know and here it is: STOP being so frackin' hard on yourselves. I know many many people who are waaaaay tougher on themselves than anyone else could ever be (and yes, it takes one to know one). So. I say cut yourself some slack, sit on your couch and eat chips or bon bons or celebrate any way you like, but celebrate all the good stuff about you, cause god-help-my-poor-tired-ass you deserve it.

Oh yeah, and send kisses.