tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138796282024-03-13T13:55:49.185-04:00Oh well, fiddle-dee-dee!kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-10789464588333526022008-04-02T23:27:00.004-04:002008-04-02T23:42:07.974-04:00Cringe reflexTommy took Oliver to the mall yesterday so he could play at the indoor playground (we have a surprisingly kid-friendly mall and O is a card-caring <a href="http://www.simon.com/kidgits/about/index.aspx">kidgit</a> - kudos to the design team and their awesome little kidgit characters!). But I digress....he said later they were walking around and there was a woman and her dog walking nearby. Wanting to really get Oliver happy, they toddled towards the middle-aged woman and her medium-sized white dog (if only you were reading this, Lady I'm Talking About). As they approached, Tommy asked, "Is your dog nice?" Her response: "Yes, if she wasn't, I wouldn't have brought her to the mall." THEN SHE TURNED AROUND AND WALKED AWAY...away from <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/2351183000/"><span style="font-style: italic;">OLIVER</span></a>.<br /><br />I get more and more furious every time I think about this woman. CLEARLY she wanted a little attention if she's going to go so far as to bring a DOG to a MALL and yet when said attention approached in all their <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/2098951234/">insanely cute glory</a>, she could only be rude. SURELY she's cringing right now for saying such a thing, right? RIGHT???? And yet, the line sounded so...rehearsed.<br /><br />Tramp.<br /><br />(I made up a joke similar to the "What do a lawyer and a catfish have in common? One's a parasite eating bottom dweller and the other is a fish"-joke but it reads rude. I'm sure you can come up with one since you know what a female dog is.)<br /><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"></span>kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-51700270461106033222008-03-03T14:02:00.001-05:002008-03-03T14:02:06.684-05:00Major Milestone: 1st Macaroni Art<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/2308354660/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2419/2308354660_474aa19988_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/2308354660/">Major Milestone: 1st Macaroni Art</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/kayandtommy/">kaymaria</a> </span></div>Have I mentioned how awesome Oliver's daycare lady is? Well, Miss Donna is AWESOME. I knew she was The One when she said, "If the bigger kids are going to fingerpaint, then so is Oliver." She's very crafty, appreciates input (we gave her the new They Might Be Giants cd/dvd, Here Come the ABCs for Valentines Day and though she hates that the songs get wedged in her head, she appreciates the new material), and is great with giving her own input. So of course I was thrilled when this came home with Oliver one day. His first macaroni art. I'm sure you can see how perfectly he captures the conflict of old and new ideas in post-Communist Germany while still bringing whimsy and fun to such a culture clash. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to my first macaroni bracelet.<br clear="all" />kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-21561682447287440432008-02-20T10:40:00.002-05:002008-02-20T10:46:20.538-05:00You know I'm okay, right?Every now and then I go into a dark place. I've got one of THOSE brains that just circles and circles and sucks in problems and what-ifs like a cow in a tornado. <br /><br />Sometimes, there's a lot of cows.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-8949442722279939882008-02-19T22:37:00.002-05:002008-02-19T22:57:26.582-05:00Jinx of the Blog?Invariably...or relatively so....if I gush about how great my husband is, the very next day we have a fight or a tiff or some other unpleasant nash. Well, apparently this jinx applies to moods as well because no sooner had I bored myself writing my previous post that I soon turned to mush.<br /><br />I went downstairs to do the Big Wash of bottles, sippy cups, and other handwashables and I just plain ached. Why is it, if it's "just" an organ, do I ache in my heart? I guess it's more of an ache in my core (and not in the trendy muscular sense) but I associate it with my heart which doesn't help with the heart references. And yet, at times it helps to cry. A lot of times. Cleanses the soul, core, heart, whatever. And doing dishes is one of those commonplace chores that's kind of therapeutic in it's plain-ness where you can fit a crying jag in quite nicely. A crying jag and a chat with the God of My Choice over recent events, past bad decisions and the question of residual karmic consequences. I think He assures me I'm being too hard on myself. I hope I got it right when I heard a quiet voice saying everything will work out.<br /><br />And as Luck, or something more bitter, would have it, this feeling went Pavlovian. Tonight when I went downstairs to do the handwashables, the tears came with me.<br /><br />Didn't help that they didn't call today to book his MRA appointment. Didn't help that at a rather rough point at work, a woman I work with who I adore and whose birthday is a day after mine read our horoscope:<br /><span id="ctl00_CPHMaster_lstHoroscopes_ctl05_lblHead" class="basicSmallBold">LEO</span> <span id="ctl00_CPHMaster_lstHoroscopes_ctl05_lblBody" class="basicSmall">(July 23-Aug. 22): Entertain everyone with your Leo charm and you will gain popularity today. Emotional issues with someone you love will escalate if you ignore his or her complaints. Put some time aside to take care of personal matters.</span><br /><br />Didn't help that he threw a little tantrum because he was tired and was inconsolable a little too long for my tastes ("Could he be hurting himself? Is his blood pressure getting high? Do I just give him a cookie to calm him down? Are these emotions escalating? Am I ignoring viable complaints?").<br /><br />And yet, it's what I signed up for. And it's all worked out so far. When I was pregnant, they saw fluid on his brain, that passed. When he was born, he couldn't shake the jaundice, that passed. When he had a questionably large head and we had to wait for a CAT scan, those results showed he just has a giant head, so that passed.<br /><br />This too shall pass.<br /><br />Better get to my loving husband who is a little worried about the current tear flow. Man he rocks. <br /><br />I'm not afraid of you, Jinx...okay, well maybe a little.<br /><br />This is going to be a bumpy ride.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-71399384729763551982008-02-18T21:22:00.002-05:002008-02-18T21:30:35.938-05:00Just checking inWe had a good day today. Nothing super special because the weather SUCKED but we did go to the mall so Oliver could play at the indoor playground and hopefully learn to crawl.<br /><br />He's 16 months old, isn't walking, but hasn't ever really crawled. He did the army crawl for a while then he learned to sit up on his own and that morphed into a scoot. Have you ever seen a dog drag its butt across the carpet? That is what O's scoot first looked like but he has since mastered it and he can really work up some speed on the hardwoods. And yet, suddenly, the woman that comes to analyze him feels that he needs to learn to crawl before he learns to walk (which is soon, Baby, SOON - he can walk along side you holding your pants leg for support). I think he needs to know how to crawl just for all the boy stuff he's going to do so a friend suggested tunnels. Her son learned to get on his knees that way. She loaned us the play tunnel she got at IKEA but it's long and thus intimidating so off to the mall we went cursing that we didn't bring any hand sanitizer but getting over it pretty quickly.<br /><br />He did okay in the tunnels but had so much fun walking around, watching the kids, and just checking things out. When huddled in a little structure, a really cool boy named Nathan popped in. Turns out, he was born on the day Tommy and I were married. How cool is that?<br /><br />Wow, I'm kind of boring myself. I guess the point of this tome is: we're doing really good. The near future is definitely looming but we're doing our best to have fun and if that means crawling around questionably sanitary play structures and spongy, bouncy carpet then Bring It On.<br /><br />Did I tell you Oliver is starting to blow kisses. Dreamy.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-6303103250491320242008-02-17T22:47:00.003-05:002008-02-17T22:51:46.774-05:00The Remote<span style="font-style: italic;">Scene: Us in the living room, about to watch the second half of the first season of <a href="http://www.sho.com/site/weeds/home.do?source=shocom_nav">Weeds</a>, one of the greatest shows EVER. Me standing, him reading <a href="http://www.mentalfloss.com/">Mental Floss</a> next to the remote</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Me: Will see what the weather is supposed to do.</span><br /><br />Him: It's dark out.<br /><br />Me: [laughing hysterically because well, it IS the best medicine]<br /><br />Him: I hope you still think I'm funny in 50 years.<br /><br />Me: I hope I know what day it is in 50 years.<br /><br />The man wants to be married to me for 50 more years. Thank you, thank you, thank you.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-3870183529239825652008-02-16T23:10:00.003-05:002008-02-16T23:27:01.519-05:00El corazonI think the God of Your Choice is big into tests. And it's your job to do your best to pass said tests. Here's a catch-up on the current test I'm taking:<br /><br />11/15/07<br />Yesterday, we took Oliver in to have a diaper rash looked at (I thought it was a little bit of a yeast infection, it was, ointment given) so while we were there I asked to get the confirmation that all went well with his echocardiogram that was done on October 17th (at his one-year check-up, his doctor heard a heart murmur that had been unheard of since birth). I thought it was going to be like the CAT scan he had where "no news is good news," well, it turns out, "no news is O's pediatrician isn't really on the ball." Turns out, the "ECHO noted elevated velocities in the arch and aortic narrowing suggestive of coarctation." We turn to <a href="http://www.webmd.com">webmd</a> for understanding:<br /><br />Coarctation of the aorta is a common heart defect present at birth. With this defect, a portion of the large blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body (aorta) is abnormally narrowed or pinched. Coarctation of the aorta reduces blood flow to the body, requiring the heart to pump harder to meet the body's demands, which over time can lead to high blood pressure, heart failure, or other complications.<br /><br />The most obvious symptoms of coarctation of the aorta are signs of heart failure-such as difficulty breathing, poor weight gain, sweating, and being sleepy and fussy most of the time-and decreased pulses in the legs. This condition is usually detected in newborns during normal blood pressure checks and by listening to the heart. Further tests, such as echocardiography, may be done to confirm the diagnosis.<br /><br />Coarctation of the aorta requires surgery. If the condition is not repaired, a person with coarctation of the aorta may not live past the age of 40 or 50.<br /><br />And here's <a href="http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/congenital-heart-defects-treatment-overview">more</a>.<br /><br />We now have an appointment tomorrow at Yale Pediatric Med Ctr to meet with a doctor who will probably do another echo and if need be, he can do some sort of procedure where they blow up the aorta to check it out further. The wonderful, wonderful nurse knew exactly how to talk to me when I said, "What does this procedure entail or do I want to know just yet?" She responded, "You probably don't want to know just yet but it's better than surgery." And she stressed that surgery isn't always the only option and the fact that he's growing like crazy is a really good sign that this all could be relatively minor.<br /><br />So we have an appointment tomorrow at 2:45. I'll let you know more when I do.<br /><br />11/17/07<br />After an EKG, several blood pressure tests, and another echocardiogram (all of which O did splendidly except for the EKG because the woman wasn't all that pleasant),the doctor does not feel that it is a coarctation. He is a little concerned that the aorta may have a bit of a twist to it which could cause problems as he grows or could fix itself. Either way, he wants to repeat the process in 3 months and keep an eye on it somewhat regularly - fine by us!<br /><br />Thanks so much for keeping us in your thoughts and thanks again for just being there (I'm here for you, you know that, right?),<br /><br />Kay, Tommy, and the rockin' Oliver ("He's bigger than my 4 year old!" the doctor was quoted as saying. And after we talked about how much he's sleeping and confirmed it's because he's growing and not heart-related, he asked, "Wanna trade?")<br /><br />2/14/07 – a day of hearts<br />We are off to Yale tomorrow for Oliver's follow-up heart testing. I'm not too worried about it and still remain oh-so thankful that The Big Dogs are keeping an eye on everything...but just in case, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. If you need something to focus on, <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/">here</a> he is in all his Valentine's glory.<br /><br />2/15/07 (the day after Valentine’s Day – heart, heart, heart)<br />We had another round of heart testing today which included another echocardiogram and EKG. What I thought was going to be a, "Okay, come back again in 6 months to so we can keep monitoring him" sadly was not. As of right now, it looks like Oliver's heart issue may be a coarctation after all (see below). The next step is to get an MRI to get a better look at what his heart is doing then there are two options for treatment. The first is the heart catheterization and the second is surgery (both mentioned in the link below). There are definitely pros and cons in both (the former would probably need another session in a couple of years and a stint years after that, the latter is heart surgery but would probably not need followups) and right now, our doctor, who is a specialist in the former feels surgery may be the better option judging by how much of the aorta/ventricle is involved.<br /><br />Either way, Oliver's age is PERFECT for either decision. His insane but proportional growth (he is now 36 1/2" long and 35 pounds) is a good sign of good health. And our doctor and his colleague are pediatric cardiologist specialists at Yale.<br /><br />So they will call me early next week to schedule the MRI which are usually done on Thursdays for pediatrics. Our doctor will meet with his colleague to get his take on things and we will talk in the middle of the week to discuss the MRI and the next steps.<br /><br />Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and I will do my best to keep you updated.<br /><br />Oliver is in great spirits (he HATED the EKG but forgave the woman soon enough). Tommy and I are hanging in there. I had a margarita at dinner and it was delicious. Tommy is up to something for tomorrow for my Valentine's Day present (the hints are: "no opened-toed shoes, wear something I wouldn't mind getting dirty, no jewelry, and we'll be gone for two hours counting the commute") so that's a nice distraction. And we both know that it'll all work out and this too shall pass - it's just getting to "it" and the "pass" that's the tricky part.<br /><br />Correction: I kept saying MRI when really it's probably going to be an <a href="http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/magnetic-resonance-angiogram-mra">MRA</a>.<br /><br />2/18/07<br />Today was Tommy's Valentine surprise for me (not sure if that's what you had confused with "today") - he took me to the <a href="http://www.mysticaquarium.org/index.cgi/345">penguin contact program at the Mystic Aquarium</a> - I got to pet a penguin and listen to her heartbeat (seriously, enough about hearts!). It was so cool!!!!!! And we got there early so we were able to look around the aquarium - there's currently a bat exhibit there and it's designed really well so you can see them really closely - I love me some cute little bats.<br /><br />It was a really nice distraction...though I did get a teensy bit choked up when I first thought of the heartbeat coincidence....but no one saw. Then later I was at the commissary and that damn Dido song (Resting Here with Me) came on and it was all I could do to not break down in front of all the payday shoppers (seriously, you NEED two carts?). That song killed me when Tommy was out to sea and the sob saga continues.<br /><br />I now hate not being around Oliver. He's at such a precious age right now. Really trying to walk on his own but can't let go of the one finger of mine or Tommy's. His little Frankenstein walk is just priceless.<br /><br />I’m just saying, if anything bad ever happened, you can find me tagging Great White sharks for science while wearing a chum necklace.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-47085397455918264792007-10-14T21:23:00.000-04:002007-10-14T21:26:44.259-04:00Ginger YuzuI feel really, really good about using my reusable plastic grocery bags and after I bought four plain green ones, I vowed to get a fun, mismatched set. And now Method products are making my plan that much <a href="http://givegreener.com/">better</a>!kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-60347859985891816762007-10-14T17:06:00.001-04:002007-10-14T17:17:24.327-04:00One year old<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/1501949906/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2358/1501949906_69beed17ec_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" > <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/1501949906/">One year old</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/kayandtommy/">kaymaria</a> </span></div>10/6/07<br /><br />Oliver turned a year old today.<br /><br />Since Tommy is currently a little busy participating in the <a href="http://www.wildernesschallenge.net/">wilderness challenge</a> (we figured it was the only year we could get away with truly celebrating O’s bday on another day other than his actual birthday), I decided to take Oliver into New York for the day so we could celebrate just a little.<br /><br />Needless to say, it was a great day and we partook of the stereotypical melting pot that is New York. I loaded <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/">my flickr pics</a> backwards so you could see the proper order of the day.<br /><br />We spent the night at Judah’s house last night. I had made cupcakes so we had our first commemorative birthday cupcake and O was sung too while staring mesmerized at the candle (more pics to follow but they’re in Stace’s camera which is in Mexico for the next week). The next morning I awoke to a very wet and saturated baby and Pack & Play. After clean-up, we then took the train into Grand Central Station and decided to walk down to Union Square (rather than taking the subway) to meet Lynn & Nicole for lunch. On the way, I passed the Empire State Building so I elected the help of many tourists to take our picture to commemorate the day. In doing so, we met people from France, New Zealand, and Spain. Fortunately, I was able to return the photo favor by taking pics of the French couple. Tres bon!<br /><br />As we approached Union Square, we passed a really big, very tall guy wearing a sandwich board touting a suit shop going out of business. As we passed, he looked into the stroller and commented, “Ay, que lindo!” [basically Spanish for: Oh, how cute!]<br /><br />We had a great lunch at <a href="http://www.rosamexicano.info/">Rosa Mexicano</a> and I was able to get to know Lynn’s girlfriend, Nicole a little better. SUCH a catch!<br /><br />Afterwards, we walked to <a href="http://www.booksofwonder.com/nycstorelocandhours.asp">Books of Wonder</a>, stopping at Cupcake Café for an adequate but commemorative birthday cupcake. Books of Wonder is a great bookstore for kids. Oliver is obssessed with the opposites books by <a href="http://www.lesliepatricelli.com/">Leslie Patricelli</a>. When we first moved here, I bought him Big Little because I figured his baby-baby eyes would like the bold colors. After that, Yummy Yucky soon followed. When I couldn’t find Quiet Loud at the local bookstores, I ordered it online and O acted like his long lost baby brother was finally shipped to him. He truly studies the pages and now can turn them relatively well which is absolutely insanely precious. So yesterday, though I was hesitant to encourage “the plug” (what we call his pacifier) since he kind of hangs on to it a bit too much, I looked through Binky. The ending was great. Seriously, I think Mrs. Patricelli – who is from Seattle, of course – what’s not to like?, was equally hesitant with her kids so she wrote this book. So I bought it and a signed copy of <a href="http://www.vladimirradunsky.com/look.html">#1 (one)</a> I love, love, love this book! I want to get Ten next…and everything else thereafter.<br /><br />Another Why I Like NY Moment occurred as we left Lynn and Nicole and headed uptown. I was walking (briskly, of course) and all of a sudden, the weight of my travel mug full of coffee snapped the snap of the little mesh cup holder of O’s stroller. Granted, it was probably too heavy to support the weight from the get-go, but thankfully it waited til after we left the restaurant, bookstore, etc. So, it dropped and the lid shot off spraying coffee all over the sidewalk. A second sooner, and it would have been all over the guy walking briskly next to me. And yet, said guy bent over and picked up the coffee-covered lid to said travel mug, handed it to me, and resumed his brisk walk. I didn’t even have time to offer him a baby wipe so his hand didn’t smell like that day’s Starbucks. THAT doesn’t happen everywhere.<br /><br />So we slowly headed back to Grand Central. I pulled a Mom and said, “We’re going to pop into the <a href="http://www.maccosmetics.com/">MAC</a> store for a couple of lipsticks, but after that, we’ll go swing in the park.” Like I needed to bribe when it dawned on me that MAC stores are filled with women, cool lighting, and mirrors – the swinging in Madison Square Park was bonus time.<br /><br />I wanted to get a picture or something to commemorate O’s first birthday so when we got to Grand Central, I decided to push further past and head for MOMA where I knew there would be artists with booths set up. We found the perfect little abstract painting done by <a href="http://www.thebigfunbox.org/murphy.html">Martha Murphy</a>. It even looks like there’s the number one in it. AND she was super nice and allowed me to take a picture of her holding Oliver.<br /><br />A great way to end a great day.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-72722356192835097372007-10-03T10:06:00.001-04:002007-10-03T10:14:16.159-04:00Kya-ka<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/1414005876/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1373/1414005876_f05976cc07_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" > <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/1414005876/">Cupcakes</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/kayandtommy/">kaymaria</a> </span></div><a href="http://littleverses.blogspot.com/">My sister</a> has become cooler than me. Granted, I’ve lost quite a lot of cool in recent years...and haven't missed it too much now that I think about it... but still, she has surpassed my peak of coolness. Initially that intimidated me but she’s smart enough to pet my ego with lines like, “You’ve molded me into the woman I have become.” I may have watered the seed and nurtured the sprout, but the bloom is all her. [I was going to go with a "running with the ball" metaphor but it wasn't girly enough.]<br /><br />In the immortal words of Alabama Whitman-Worley, "...three words went through my mind endlessly, repeating themselves like a broken record: you're so cool, you're so cool, you're so cool."<br /><br />Happy Birthday Jessica! Man, I love you!kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-58266011904403964102007-09-21T00:28:00.000-04:002007-09-21T01:19:01.869-04:00Should have posted this on 9/9/07<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJAr1Rmc1QevzAbfCX3wKhz6zV1Z7ZEgCYBi6Wh0fl3T-oHAcUlAyJ-ky9oT16G8LRuK4v6nKMRVXjjUqequ3_1loAqI613YaIfkf6LbwpAxaXSexq7ObdlN0WaCZa15C-o8G9Q/s1600-h/rosey+lackey.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJAr1Rmc1QevzAbfCX3wKhz6zV1Z7ZEgCYBi6Wh0fl3T-oHAcUlAyJ-ky9oT16G8LRuK4v6nKMRVXjjUqequ3_1loAqI613YaIfkf6LbwpAxaXSexq7ObdlN0WaCZa15C-o8G9Q/s320/rosey+lackey.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112520337760961298" border="0" /></a><br />I searched YouTube and MySpace and didn’t find anything on the person I met today and I’m truly shocked. So here’s a <a href="http://media.freep.com/roseylackey/index.html">link</a> to get you by.<br /><br />We drove to Stamford today to see the exhibit <a href="http://stamfordmuseum.org/exhibit-spot.html#cycle">The Motorcycle, Italian Style:<br />Riding the Curves with MV Agusta at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center</a>. Nothing like walking through gorgeous farmland with turkeys and chickens skittering about underfoot only to walk into open land filled with gorgeous Italian motorcycles. Since the show just opened, today’s shindig featured even more gorgeous bikes and the presence of Roosevelt “Rosey” Lackey. He is the 2006 Bonneville land speed record holder. What does that mean, in a nutshell? He went really really fast on salt. If you haven’t seen <a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0412080/">The World’s Fastest Indian</a>, rent it. Even though it’s about Burt Munro who broke the land speed record in 1967, it will give you a general idea what Rosey has done and where.<br /><br />Those that know me know I like motorcycles but don’t really want one. Though there are <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/1352568839/">a</a> <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/1352568833/">few</a> <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/1352558083/">I</a> <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/1352558067/">covet</a>. The point of this tome is to praise Rosey. I associate the word “gentleman” with humility – this man has accomplished A LOT and still remains humble and will gladly pick up some crazy lady’s HUGE baby when she asks if she can take <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/1352558045/">a picture of him holding said huge baby</a>. (Like you need to guess who that crazy lady was.) I asked what he thought of The World’s Fastest Indian, he of course, loved it. Then after we chatted for a moment, I went in to see the exhibit and there was a gap where his Agusta motorcycle will be once it gets shipped to the museum. <span style="font-style: italic;">I met the guy who rode the bike that is going to be in a rather important museum exhibit.</span> Needless to say, upon leaving the exhibit, I had to go back to Rosey’s table and acknowledge that I may have downplayed his accomplishment by gushing over the movie about someone else’s similar accomplishment (he of course has met Burt Munro but that’s beside the point). I soon gushed about how impressive that gap in the exhibit was. He in turn, as any humble man would do, downplayed the gap while saying how much he loved the movie. I did the best I could to push the movie aside and thanked him for being there today.<br /><br />70. The man is 70 years old.<br /><br />I made an observation today. (Me? Go figure.) I really like people that are quiet about their accomplishments. Quiet a.k.a. humble. Because you don’t need to be anything more. Let your work speak for itstelf. I see it in my friend <a href="http://elmechanicoloco.com/">Jeff</a>. Granted, "The Movie People" may be kind of getting to him, but fortunately/hopefully he has enough friends that will keep him in line if he gets too big for his britches. And even in me I’ve seen this silence (there are some of you out there going, “You? Silent???” but give me a minute to explain…) I moved to New York to be a photographer and I liked quite a few of the pictures I took but I realized I could not schmooze them enough to be successful so that combined probably with my laziness, made me give up the idea of being a photographer as a profession. Still though, I remember standing before people like <a href="http://www.billwest.com/">Bill Westheimer</a>, <a href="http://howardschatz.com/">Howard Schatz</a>, and other big, big photographers. I had to show my work after this guy that took gorgeous portraits of these $1 a night Venezualan hookers (seriously, they were shockingly beautiful pictures) and before the guy that followed Nixon through his Presidency and Watergate and took the clencher pic of Monica Lewinsky hugging Bill Clinton at that press junket (moral of that story to all photographers: don’t delete your digital pictures unless you’re SURE you’re not going to use them) and I was clicking through my slides like I was on a game show. Hello? Such a crowd makes a girl NERVOUS. And yet, said crowd made me stop and start over. Schatz even traded one of my pictures for one of his. I knew those pictures I shower were good, and yet, I stayed quiet. And I’m happy about that.<br /><br />Sometimes quiet is good.<br /><br />And yet, something tells me I'm going to cringe later for bringing myself into this entry because that wasn't very quiet after all, was it?<br /><br />Seriously though, it was really, really great to meet Rosey Lackey.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-48133382044808169772007-09-12T01:21:00.000-04:002007-09-12T01:24:02.506-04:00NervesI am going to meet my new coworkers of my new part-time job today (we found all 3 seasons of The Office on DVD - this is not helping the job jitters even though it came with a free Dunder Mifflin lunch box).<br /><br />I will drop off my son with the nanny for the first time today as well.<br /><br />I just applied for a tax ID number for the <a href="http://kaymaria.etsy.com">small business</a> I am dabbling in.<br /><br />I am looking into trademarking the name.<br /><br />Me. A nanny, a potential business, a trademark, and yet another new job.<br /><br />I must go wash the dye off my hair even though I'm clearly giving myself more gray hairs.<br /><br />Think happy, pink thoughts for me, would ya?kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-65563053003725948842007-08-27T23:59:00.000-04:002007-08-28T00:04:57.349-04:00Noo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcpC-u8c1QIP7-Zkd4Zoy-fdjbgWRal1jjyDCsHlL3fjQD5eSWxmr4UP_fNTUQoMNAvVH33ike2v_Ag7XVQVgdjdOkZcdnz3of5G0OsVO7P2ADUugr-2HcMhQNLEl-cGeFEFjRw/s1600-h/IMG_3020.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcpC-u8c1QIP7-Zkd4Zoy-fdjbgWRal1jjyDCsHlL3fjQD5eSWxmr4UP_fNTUQoMNAvVH33ike2v_Ag7XVQVgdjdOkZcdnz3of5G0OsVO7P2ADUugr-2HcMhQNLEl-cGeFEFjRw/s320/IMG_3020.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103597313112140882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We went back to the farm for cukes & peaches. Apparently, telling Oliver that cows say "Moo" and actually hearing a cow say "Moo" are two totally and emotionally different things.<br /><br />He was not pleased to hear the live version.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-16334796157885957602007-08-20T16:14:00.000-04:002007-08-27T23:58:27.520-04:00Alice Acres Farm<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijre3jVgqsO_Jl6Iq2OP1NvPIBkB2J9RNA5E4P2vPN6emoQYD1RBj4nuTGZg8aQBM6EIdBfGRdPIdxcXg1xDuHlkaVYxtAjQbzDHq8haZnFirLrrvOa1HJs3cp0GOCDKtySNp-QA/s1600-h/IMG_3021.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijre3jVgqsO_Jl6Iq2OP1NvPIBkB2J9RNA5E4P2vPN6emoQYD1RBj4nuTGZg8aQBM6EIdBfGRdPIdxcXg1xDuHlkaVYxtAjQbzDHq8haZnFirLrrvOa1HJs3cp0GOCDKtySNp-QA/s320/IMG_3021.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103595818463521842" border="0" /></a><br />Turns out there's a farm nearby. Alice Acres Farm, home of Cows and Cones, their new icecream shop. Tommy, Oliver and I walked there last Friday for a cone. It's a nice-sized, gorgeous farm complete with cows, chickens, pigs, and produce. We told Annie we'd come see her this week and that's just what Oliver and I did. She was there along with Pete, the owner. Turns out, Pete's from Washington so we reminisced about you ask for "sockeye," "coho," and other yummy types of salmon there and here you just ask for "salmon." O & I picked up some tomatoes, cukes, and peaches and when I asked if she had any eggs today (I saw a sign), Annie said, "Let me see what the girls have," went off to the coop, and came back with 6 fresh eggs.<br /><br />Connecticut isn't looking so bad today.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-58665678269282991492007-08-09T22:29:00.000-04:002007-08-16T00:42:06.768-04:0041<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKTIVuk3cguy_izJEwrUwyiOFMlqmHJDqoFe586JPeDY26_g7ci8GukZo6brsaLCzU0InYAJgmNgdw1qhQSXC6jjjCwxH-rnHeiUTRbTR9xClHMdY3I5UtqO3NI8rmTQmqLFAh7w/s1600-h/IMG_2956.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKTIVuk3cguy_izJEwrUwyiOFMlqmHJDqoFe586JPeDY26_g7ci8GukZo6brsaLCzU0InYAJgmNgdw1qhQSXC6jjjCwxH-rnHeiUTRbTR9xClHMdY3I5UtqO3NI8rmTQmqLFAh7w/s320/IMG_2956.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5096899311594553522" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Today is my birthday. It's been ridiculously hot so we broke down and put a window unit in our bedroom window and set up the Pack & Play for O to sleep in. This worked out great for said birthday because I was able to watch how Oliver wakes up. Normally we only get to hear him babble but this morning I saw how he talked with his bottle, his rattle bunny, the ceiling, etc. Then when I got up I got THE GREATEST smile from him and I teared up at how great of a birthday it was....and I hadn't even noticed yet the strategic placement of Lindt truffle hearts throughout the house (on the toilet paper roll, on the toothbrush holder, on this laptop, on the changing table, on the tray of Oliver's highchair - wherever I was going to be, there one was!). It was a leisurely day and after Tommy got off work, I was able to go to the gym then come home and take a long shower before going to dinner. We went to Paul's Pasta - this cute little place on the water. They make everything including the pasta on the premises. While waiting on our food, a woman came up to us and asked if we were O's parents and commented how adorable he was. We talked for a minute and she went back to her table and meal (he's cute enough to interrupt a meal!). The table next to us was equally enamoured but I think O was a bit too intimidated by the volume of the NY accent to really dazzle them with a smile. The food was great, the waitress was darling, and at the end of the meal she said something like, "There's this club where anonymous people by dinner for people and ask only that one day you do the same. Someone here who wants to remain anonymous thought you looked nice and happy and are buying your dinner and ask that you do the same for someone in the future." How cool is that?!? AND we came home to Cold Stone icecream cake.<br /><br />SUCH a happy birthday it was.<br /><br />I am so, so thankful.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-6625946660043000292007-07-24T13:13:00.000-04:002007-07-24T13:15:55.485-04:00Attempting to be unapologetic and yet....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8nIsKqu9yPjzL2kUh0qFrFm3LIrudxkka6M4Hj1TQtopfOgfkw1oo_fihykmLUlGAAExqYFlsEOSIGgysW3gfNifc8y6dFsbiDFxxgN_Itp53RMIV9-hAKpmOe9x71pT_-dPYiw/s1600-h/IMG_2695.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8nIsKqu9yPjzL2kUh0qFrFm3LIrudxkka6M4Hj1TQtopfOgfkw1oo_fihykmLUlGAAExqYFlsEOSIGgysW3gfNifc8y6dFsbiDFxxgN_Itp53RMIV9-hAKpmOe9x71pT_-dPYiw/s320/IMG_2695.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090813252741808226" border="0" /></a><br />I know it's been ages, I know this is a scattered bit of prose, but it will have to do for now so I hope you enjoy.<br /><br />July 21, 2007<br /><br />Mom and I sat talking in her living room this morning before Oliver woke up. Dredging up not-so-pleasant and oh-so-pleasant memories along with the quest to be able to always remember said memories (the oh-so-pleasant ones to be more specific, if you hadn’t noticed: it ain’t hard to remember the not-so-pleasant ones). I brought up my blog (not that she has internet but enough of the rest of my family does so you won’t see much venting on this thing) as a way of documenting the memories but I also noted that I don’t write on it enough though my older brother commented not too long ago, “You know how to write!” so because a good memory came out of the visit to TX Oliver and I are flying back from, for example, one with said brother, I will document a bit. I don’t think I need to remind you, I digress and this tome is no exception.<br /><br />There are examples of true motherhood that my mother has shared with me that I always want to remember and live up to: After my parents divorced, we moved to Corpus Christi, TX and my mom worked full-time then went to school at night for her Master’s. As I remember, she took 9 to 12 hours per semester. This had to KILL her and she admitted that there was many a night that she drove to school crying because she was cold and tired and school was the last place she wanted to go to after working full time for the Department of Human Resources counseling 17 year olds pregnant with their 5th child and they “just don’t know why.” And yet she drove on solely for her kids.<br /><br />My mom had polio when she was five. The doctors apparently told my grandmother that she would be “a cripple” (apparently the p.c. term for the time) to which my grandmother basically said, “Not on my watch.” And every morning she drove my mom from the tiny little town of Benavides, TX (“blink and you’ll miss it”) to Corpus so mom could have some sort of 1936 physical therapy (I shudder to think what that consisted of) til my mom was able to walk. But that’s not all – my tiny, little grandmother CARRIED my five-year-old mother from the parking lot to the hospital each and every day. This makes this morning’s flight from San Antonio to Cincinnati sitting next to a HUGE bowhunter* (judging by his periodical of choice) with my 26+ pound nine-month old sitting in what little, cramped lap I had seem like a walk in the park eating icecream.<br /><br />So to lighten things up a bit, Tommy, Oliver and I flew to TX for a week followed by Oliver and I continuing our journey onto San Antonio by a really great, really long Texas Backroads drive by the hand of my older brother (mentioned above).<br /><br /><br />*Okay, this morning’s flight was comical enough worthy of documentation. As I said, Oliver is 26+ pounds. The flight to TX, we lucked out and he got his own seat (apparently on most all airlines except Continental, if the seat next to you is vacant, your baby can sit there in his carseat). I figured since I was returning on another Saturday (the slowest travel day, FYI), I’d have reasonable good luck. My afternoon flight through that logic off and Mr. Bowhunter, Oliver and I were rowmates. Mr. Bowhunter’s wife and son sat in the row next to us and I was thisclose to asking if the son would be willing to sit next to us rather than Mr. B but I felt that Mr. B’s son was a little too young to comply so I refrained. Well, Mr. B wore a camoflaged hat that had orange trim and some sort of orange, pro-bow logo on it. Red is too bulls as orange is to Oliver. PLUS Mr. B was not in awe of the preciousness that is Oliver so that made O that much more cute and, shall we say, assertive. His precious, biscuit hand often grazed Mr. B’s army green t-shirt to no avail and no response. None. Mrs. Bowhunter fell victim to Oliver’s charms many-a-time through the flight and she was sitting across the aisle but Mr. B? Nope. And I don’t think he did it out of anger for sitting next to big ol’ me and big ol’ baby, I kind of got a weird “out of respect I’ll ignore them”/shy, gentle giant vibe. But still, EVERY PART of me was cramping up trying to contain the force that is Oliver Who Needs a Nap Very, Very Badly in my own personal Seat 8D space [please know, I realized before this fateful trip that this was the last time that Oliver wasn’t going to have his own ticket – it was the whole Saturday flight thing that made me risk it and to confirm that gamble, I sit here typing this in my own seat with precious, sleeping Oliver sitting next to me on the flight from Cincinnati to Hartford. (Soon I get to see my husband! Soon Oliver gets to see his Daddy! Joy, joy, JOY!!!)] And yet I digress in my own “whatever this ‘*’ thing is. called” At one point in my cramping while chanting, “This too shall pass/My Grandmother carried my mother to the hospital ever yday” over and over and over, the flight attendant came up and asked if Mr. Bowhunter and I were together, he said we weren’t and she then said there was an exit row, aisle seat (my pre-motherhood favorite seat of all time second only to First Class, of course) available and he said, “No thanks, I’m with them” and pointed to Mrs. & Jr. Bowhunter. I turned and looked out the window and forced myself not to cry. The flight attendant then proceeded to ask how old Oliver was, her son was only 11 days older and approximately half his size – at least Mr. B got to discover that O was still a card-carrying baby while feeling ever so slight kharmic ramifications while being sandwiched between two first time mothers both over 35. And the flight eventually ended, and I eventually was able to stretch and walk, and all is well. God has a funny sense of humor sometimes and I knew this was one of them.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-43907374394750822032007-04-06T13:57:00.000-04:002007-04-06T17:27:13.941-04:00Six Months Old<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qvNfFuPPlihOafDQPgQjpuWzLjKk89dCWeJV2gO-_rfrz-gJJ77eo1LX0_nl3uTKrKd6zmotdXP4ePD66OToH1J4ldAWHujzQodnsC4kzLXQaeWEUwZDvWzAx9f1r9mW9OOpHw/s1600-h/IMG_2282.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qvNfFuPPlihOafDQPgQjpuWzLjKk89dCWeJV2gO-_rfrz-gJJ77eo1LX0_nl3uTKrKd6zmotdXP4ePD66OToH1J4ldAWHujzQodnsC4kzLXQaeWEUwZDvWzAx9f1r9mW9OOpHw/s320/IMG_2282.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5050377966456743682" border="0" /></a><br />Sorry it's been so long since I've written. A lot has happened between then and now. Oliver and I went to Texas for a week. I was SO nervous about flying alone with him. ("But what if I'm this upset because some part of me knows something bad is going to happen?!?" I said between sleep-deprived sobs to Tommy the night before.) But it turns out he did great (seriously, why would I even doubt he would - he's great everywhere [knock wood] so OF COURSE that would include the friendly skies). I'd like to thank EVERYONE at the Atlanta airport for being flawlessly nice and beam-y to my beautiful son AND they have a Chik-fi-la there, what's not to love! If it wasn't so hot there, I'd consider that a place to move to in 12/09. And thanks to everyone on all our flights for tolerating the precious little goblin when he wasn't so precious.<br /><br />Oliver is now sitting up if you place him in a full and upright position (got flying on the brain). Granted, he doesn't stay upright forever but long enough to take some <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/448535408/">really</a> <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/448535434/">cute</a> <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/448535438/in/photostream/">Easter</a> <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/448535444/">pics</a>.<br /><br />And the beast is now eating. We started him on rice cereal then three days later he had bananas then tomorrow he may try carrots. The first taste of each met with an unpleasant facial expression but by the second serving he was scarfing it up like a loud, grunting, big baby bird.<br /><br />The house is coming along very slowly but surely. We now face new countertops and a building permit for our rockin' new shed for Tommy's dirtbikes and such (our garage is just too small to handle them) and every now and then I have time to unpack one of the many boxes that still decorate various corners of our house. And since O just fell asleep, maybe I better address another box....kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-1171428490046509002007-02-13T23:41:00.000-05:002007-02-14T11:40:38.687-05:00Happy Valentine's Day! XOXO, Cupid<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/1600/989666/IMG_2117.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/320/687921/IMG_2117.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A picture says a thousand words...<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/">click here for 10K more</a>.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-1170797174880440602007-02-06T16:24:00.000-05:002007-02-06T16:29:47.116-05:004 months old<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/1600/605331/IMG_2138.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/320/59784/IMG_2138.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Oliver turned 4 months old today. He also had his 4-month Well-Baby check up so he's a bit moody since he's sporting 4, count 'em 4, bandaids on his juicy, delicious thighs.<br /><br />What did his check up reveal? Well, not surprisingly, he's off the charts in height and in the 98% of weight. The boy is 28 1/2 inches long and 19 1/2 pounds! And I worried he was going to be scrawny!<br /><br />He is so, so great.<br /><br />[a la Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona]: Ah luhv him so mu-u--u-u-uch!!!kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-1169951782050637942007-01-27T20:55:00.000-05:002007-01-28T22:35:24.146-05:00Blahg<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/1600/470557/IMG_2060.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/320/766551/IMG_2060.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />My new friend Natalie had never read a blog before this one.<br /><br />My real estate agent has never shopped on amazon. "Is it like ebay?" she asked (?!?).<br /><br />What the hell kinda town have we moved to?!?<br /><br />And yet, I can't say much about the blog since I haven't had much to say in the blog...mainly out of fear of boring you to tears.<br /><br />This SAHM-ing does not a riveting girl make. And yet, the fact that I'm present for just about every "ooh" and cackle O makes does tend to warm the cockles of my heart.<br /><br />We just bought a lovely house and are paying far more than I would have liked especially with the current Stay At Home Mom title but said house has an addition that would be just perfect for an in-home daycare and after-school environment and if I could find one precious little, well-balanced toddler for the former and one or two myspace-illiterate, relatively stable tweens for the latter, Life would be financially peachy.<br /><br />I just wonder if it's Enough. I want to be The Greatest Mother to help O become The Greatest Kid so what can I do to be the best I can be and not succumb to boredom during naptime?<br /><br />I used to want to be this bigtime photographer, til I realized I did not have the drive to schmooze my work (or was I just plain scared and/or lazy?). I have (had?) a good eye so I now feel it best to at least shoot something/anything as a hobby and as a way to prevent the right side of my brain from turning to Betty Crocker spud. And so a goal is set. I'm not sure I can <a href="http://www.dooce.com/archives/daily_photo/">dooce</a> it, and that was probably a bad, non-motivating thing to type, but at least I'm typing that I WILL be shooting more. (And to those friends that are reading this and probably once again thinking, "Finally!", I will gladly allow you to keep prodding and encouraging.)<br /><br />I have a great opportunity to stay at home with a most captivating individual who cuts a mean look in <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/369551143/">dino jammies</a> and I plan to do my best at making this job interesting for both parties, the rest is cake. (Mmmm, cake.*)<br /><br />To help keep me interesting, I WILL BE SHOOTING MORE.<br /><br />So I hope you enjoy this here jellyfish that I shot at the oh-so fun <a href="http://www.mysticaquarium.org/">Mystic Aquarium</a>. They have a ton of hand-on things there - I got to touch several aptly-named <a href="http://www.mysticaquarium.org/index.cgi/305">cownose rays</a>, a baby alligator (croc?), a starfish, etc. and for a small (large?) fee during a future visit, I could <a href="http://www.mysticaquarium.org/index.cgi/418">touch one of the three beluga whales</a> which would be awesome but until then, I was oh-so happy to just look at them. Oh, and I got to see a flounder - which doesn't sound all that exciting but for some reason, I couldn't figure out how they swam and survived with both eyes on one side of their head.<br /><br />More Connecticut adventures to come.<br /><br />*Next step is to work on these cravings that I associate with housewifery that are far from beneficial for the spreading midsection.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-1168143959281640232007-01-06T22:46:00.000-05:002007-01-06T23:25:59.310-05:003 Months<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/1600/345382/IMG_2051.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/320/307383/IMG_2051.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Oliver turned 3 months old today. Three months!!! I can honestly say it's been great. Sure, there have been moments, but overall, he's a really great kid. HOPEFULLY gushing about my son won't be like gushing about my husband where that night we invariably have a tiff or disagreement though something tells me, I'll get one of O's newfound headbutts so whatever, bring it on. Oliver ROCKS! Right now he's laying on the couch beside me gnawing on his thumb and kicking me every now and then and ever so often you can hear him say, "Oh." O says "Oh." Already he's a prodigy. Granted, it's 10:53 in the p.m. but he's yawning every now and then so hopefully we'll be asleep in the next hour or two [fingers crossed].<br /><br />Do you recognize this little shirt our brilliant son is wearing? It's featured in my 5/2/06 entry and is what Karry gave us when we first found out "it" was a "he" that would soon become an "Oliver."<br /><br />Oliver is pretty laid back (he's now propped against my left arm staring off as his little fingers appear to be working on some sort of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisanbop">chisenbop</a> calculation). He has a smile that makes me melt and his laugh, albeit only two-syllables, is infectious. Sure, he can have a full-tilt MELTDOWN where he turns beet red and reaches a shocking volume level for such a little guy, but eventually the smiles come back and all becomes right in the world.<br /><br />Tommy is (of course) great with him. Lately he serenades O with a composition he calls The Mullet Song because he's at a rather....<span style="font-style: italic;">awkward</span> stage of hairstyle. The song is set to the Mickey Mouse Club theme and goes something like this:<br /><br />S-U-P<br />E-R-M<br />U-L-L-E-T!<br />Super Mullet!<br />Super Mullet!<br />It comes with it's own cape!<br /><br />And he also does an Steve Erwin-style Aussie accent as he becomes the Smile Hunter but the accent is too hard to type, just know it's REALLY cute and makes me beam with delight that I get to live with these two guys.<br /><br />And now he's dozing in my lap so I'm going to try to put him to bed.<br /><br />Happy Quarter of a Birthday Oliver!!!<br /><br /><br />And he somehow just spit up on the BACK of his neckkaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-1167065842429238042006-12-25T11:28:00.000-05:002006-12-25T11:57:22.503-05:00Happy Holidays!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/1600/939826/IMG_0045.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/320/265733/IMG_0045.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is a closeup pic of our tree...though it doesn't quite look like this since it's in a box somewhere in some storage unit...but next year, just you wait! It will be set up in the living room of our future home...wherever that may be (please let us get a good home...and soon!). <br /><br />This Christmas revealed that I may be growing up. We've been staying at our friends' house in Jersey and this morning we woke up, pulled O into the bed, and proceeded to watch him kick and coo and do his wookie impression and that was our present and I was happy. Me, happy to unwrap nothing. Crazy.<br /><br />(Of course I do know that there is a package waiting for us at the post office from Tommy's folks and any present for O is a present for me plus Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I think I already know what I'm going <a href="http://mypreciousstudio.com/cheat%20sheets/N310.html">to</a> <a href="http://mypreciousstudio.com/cheat%20sheets/N334.html">ask</a> <a href="http://mypreciousstudio.com/cheat%20sheets/N308.html">for</a> so I can't be THAT practical of an adult...phew!)<br /><br />Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays to you and yours and may the God of your choice bless you!<br /><br />(And as a fitting end to this post, I just looked out the window and there was the cutest little Christmas-red cardinal perched on the stoop.)kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-1166589812893522992006-12-19T23:34:00.000-05:002006-12-21T22:22:39.050-05:00Santa and the Angry Elf<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/1600/58898/IMG_2014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/320/602977/IMG_2014.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Things have been going pretty good.<br /><br />When we first hit the East Coast, we had a great weekend in Jersey then came to Groton. Stayed at the hotel on base for a couple of nights then upgraded…UPGRADED to the local Super 8. They had the nerve to charge for the lobby coffee where my trusty Super 8 GIVES theirs away all day long and they have free wi-fi and a free continental breakfast that includes yummy make-your-own Belgian waffles.<br /><br />But I digress (though they are truly amazing waffles)…we've been looking at houses this week and last. Shocking range of crap to fab options and I think we are going to make an offer on a really cute one…now our WA house needs to sell because contingency offers don’t hold too much water.<br /><br />Oliver had a sore throat last week (Tommy and I had one earlier and you could tell by O’s hoarse voice he caught it). Nothing was more heartbreaking than hearing his precious croaking pterodactyl voice and knowing there was little we could do aside from give him the tiniest of drops of Children’s Tylenol – can you imagine living off boob and formula then getting that crap introduced into the mix? Ick E.<br /><br />And tonight he met Santa for the first time. He was asleep when we did the pass-off and awoke to His Jolliness but didn’t share in the jolly. Since the trusty Super 8 doesn’t include an in-room scanner, I took this picture of the picture we bought and more actual pictures are on <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kayandtommy/">my flickr page</a>...as you can see, he's also learned to smile...A LOT and he has a violently precious two-syllable laugh that should hopefully grow. This is a good age.<br /><br />NOW I’m getting in the Christmas spirit!!!kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-1165780270159079252006-12-10T14:47:00.000-05:002006-12-10T14:51:10.176-05:00Fog<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/1600/77285/IMG_1886.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/320/721469/IMG_1886.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />December 7, 2006<br /><br />Oliver turned two months old yesterday…and yet, it feels like he’s been around longer than that.<br /><br />The other night during That Special Time that he and I share that usually falls in the 3:00 or 4:00a.m. timeframe and lasts for an hour or two, it dawned on me that I average about four hours of sleep a night compared to the desired eight. So basically, I’ve GAINED an additional four hours a day. Multiply that times the sixty or so days he’s been dazzling my life and you’ve got 240 hours or approximately ten days. So maybe that’s why I feel like he’s been around longer or perhaps it’s just because of this weird fog I’ve been in probably due to the lack of sleep. I say “weird” because I don’t feel like I’m in it til I look back on it. Seeing Kathi the other night, I remember thinking, “She looks really great” then because I think it, I get this weird assumptive feeling that I also tell her and it’s not til I download the pictures and see her that I realize I only thought it. You may think this is just average dinginess but it can get worse to some degree.<br /><br />Before we began The Road Trip, I was talking to my brother Matt about our path and I told him how it would be great to just swing down and see him but him being in Boca Raton is “just a little” out of the way. He told me about Amtrak’s auto train, the only path it’s available is basically from Orlando, FL to Washington, D.C. (Sanford, FL to a little town in VA near D.C.). You literally drive onto the train (well, an Amtrak employee takes care of that part) and you pick what kind of “quarters” you want (family room for us, please) and you leave the rest to them. Suddenly seeing him & his lovely wife Theresa became feasible so I told him I’d look into it and off I ran with it….except I never actually told him I had ran with it so when I called him from the road to give him a general ETA, he responded, “You’re coming to Florida?” to which I heard a scream from Theresa in the background. Fortunately for my fog, their schedules allowed for it and we spent a blissful albeit ridiculously hot few days with them. Unfortunately for my fog, I didn’t take a single picture of either one of them holding Oliver. What the hell was I thinking?!? And now I regret that part immensely to the point that I’m thinking about printing a life-size pic of O and sending it to them so they can take pics of themselves with O’s representative.<br /><br />If this trip has posed any questions it’s: Is the heat really a good reason to keep us from living anywhere? It hurt SO much to leave mine and Tommy’s families when we left TX and FL. These people NEED to be a part of O’s life but they all live in such hot places. Granted, we’re committed to CT for the next 3 years but after that we are going to have to do some figuring about where we should end up.<br /><br />But I digress. Florida was wonderful even through the fog. Fortunately, Matt is still one of my best friends (and as an added bonus, he’s my brother thus making family holidays that much more pleasant) and he’s seen me at my worst (see Puberty – The Prince & Stevie Nicks years) so any sort of foggy demeanor rolls off his back (please oh please oh please let me be right about this). He and Theresa have a great house that is great mainly because of their own sweat and labor they’ve put into it. It was nice to just hang out there and was equally nice to take the water taxi around Lauderdale with them.<br /><br />But as we left, I felt I didn’t spend near enough time with them…as I kind of do about all our stops along the way. Like we didn’t see any of Nashville aside from the Loveless Café & my cousin’s (though if and when I head back, the Loveless would still be my first stop) and we didn’t see more of Memphis aside from Graceland and the Cozy Corner (still two justifiably proper things to see, but still…hello? Sun Studios? The Peabody? The Grand Old Opry?). This speedy stop and go visits continued when we got to D.C. We went to the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural Hist<blockquote></blockquote>ory and Air & Space museums and saw the Washington Memorial from afar but that was it.<br /><br />And yet, I don’t have many regrets. We’ve seen a lot and we’ve come to the last days of The Road Trip. As I type this, we’re headed to Teaneck, NJ to visit our friends Susan and Chris and finally get to meet their baby Dylan (and they can meet ours). As luck would have it, it’s Chris’s birthday and we hit a doozy of a $1.29 section at a truck stop so we were able to get a variety of delightfully crappy gifts.<br /><br />So maybe the fog isn’t so foggy afterall.kaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13879628.post-1165169701096975482006-12-03T12:46:00.000-05:002006-12-03T13:15:01.143-05:00Loveless Cafe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/1600/546491/IMG_1792.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/616/1238/320/728625/IMG_1792.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Dear Mike,<br /><br />You have competition.<br /><br />Mind you, you still reign supreme in the Biscuits & Gravy category but we have found a competitor that is hot on your heels.<br /><br />Thursday night we pulled into Nashville and stayed with my cousins Ann & <a href="http://www.portraitartist.com/burnett/burnett.htm">Mark</a>. They have a gorgeous house (GORGEOUS – like, This Is The Kind Of House I Could See Myself In With The Proper Income gorgeous) that’s still very comfortable and home-y. We visited over a delicious dinner of mahi-mahi, potatoes, and salad with a cherry pie that we picked up on the way into town from Loretta Lynn’s Country Kitchen. (Did she and Elvis have some sort of affair or something? Because there was A LOT of paraphenalia re both.)<br /><br />In my travel notes, I had the <a href="http://lovelesscafe.com/">Loveless Café</a> highlighted since I heard wonderous things about it, specifically about its biscuits and gravy. Because of this, I wanted that one last brunch of your (& Alton’s) version that you so willingly/thankfully made for us…okay, maybe not because of the café but using research as an excuse to dine upon such artery clogging bliss makes me feel a little less guilty.<br /><br />While heading to my cousins’ place, it dawned on me that their place was off of Hwy 100 - just like the Loveless Café, so I asked about it over our healthy dinner. Turns out, they go rather frequently and were up for going for breakfast on Friday.<br /><br />The place is darling – warm and friendly with a strong country vibe that doesn’t feel too hokey (not that that’s a bad thing). We sat down, ordered the Family Breakfast #1, and awaited the delivery of four small but powerful biscuits and that came with three types of homemade jelly/preserves…and butter, of course.<br /><br />Then the rest of our food came quickly and deliciously.<br /><br />So basically your gravy trumps theirs hands down, I mean, theirs is good and all, really good if I hadn’t had yours, but you know I like a little gravy with my sausage whereas their gravy to sausage ratio is heavier on the former. The biscuits on the otherhand give yours a run for their money. They’re not as flaky and not as large, two big drawbacks, but the salted-buttered-tops are a very nice touch.<br /><br />Still though, yours still win…though maybe you & <a href="http://www.stefmike.org/mt-blogs/daxiang/">Stef</a> need to head east to make some in our future kitchen just to maintain your title.<br /><br />Just a thought.<br /><br />Much love,<br />Kaykaymariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00345711946058549844noreply@blogger.com0