We had a bit of an interesting drive up to Pittsburgh.
Driving along the highway, nothing exciting happening, just putt putt puttering along. We had hit a bit of traffic, but it had thinned by the time it got dark.
Seemed like all the Sunday drivers were out that night, as we kept getting stuck behind these slow pokes. Frustrated by the delay, we moved into the "passing lane" (also known as the "fast lane"). Next thing we know, the guy in front of us is swerving out the way. First thing we think is, "What is he, drunk?!" Then we see why: headlights, coming right at us. Jeremy swerved, missing the other car by a few feet, maybe (luckily, no one was in the "travelling lane", also known as the "slow lane".) I looked behind us to see the car continuing on it's path, as other cars swerved to get out of his way! From what I could see, they didn't slow down, or even try to get out of the lane.
Keep in mind, this was a split highway, with a grass median in between East and West-bound traffic. While I could understand losing control and jumping the median, I find it highly unlikely that a car would maintain speed, while driving straight on in the left lane, instead of speeding across both lanes, and landing on the other side. But, I'll probably never know.
We called 911, only to be told they had received numerous calls that night, already, for the same incident. Well, hopefully the police were able to make it there quickly, and no one was hurt.
Good times, huh?
Monday, October 08, 2007
Return of the Daily Grind
And we're off!
Well, actually, we're not off anymore, and that is the problem. :-( Oh well. We had a relaxing vacation, overall, so can't really complain there!
Most of the week was spent here at home, just chillin', really. We did some shopping, ran some errands we'd been putting off, Jeremy beat Halo 3, took naps, watched tv, etc, etc...
Thursday, we went to Pittsburgh for a couple of days before heading to Williamsburg (PA, not VA) for a wedding. We stayed at a B&B run by a former professor at Geneva (where Jeremy went to college) and it was nice. Beds weren't very comfy, but we're spoiled by our Sterns & Foster Crowne Plaza bed, so there ya go.
Funny story: Friday we went down for breakfast (as is customary when staying at a bed & breakfast, in case ya didn't know. :-) and met the other guest that had also stayed there the night before. Apparently (small world) he lives in Silver Spring, and works for INOVA, managing the relationship between them and Geneva College (I guess a lot of med students at Geneva go work in INOVA hospitals, at least in the cardiology areas.) At some point, we mentioned the fact that Lon Solomon had a procedure done recently, to which he replied, "Oh, you go to Mclean? Me too!"
Interesting... but it gets better.
He went on to tell us that he attends the 12:30 service, and volunteers as head usher there. Jeremy said, "Oh yeah, you look familiar, I think I've seen you there before...."
"Probably." He responds.
"Wait a minute..." I said, "Did you give us a red card??"
To that, he smiled and said, "That was me."
Whoops!
Of course, we then went on to discuss that whole situation, and how much he hated that part of his job--he even told Lon (when he was in the hospital for his procedure over the summer, this guy hung out with him afterwards) how much he dislikes it (parents have even followed him out after church, yelling at him for insulting them, and who knows what else... we didn't go that far, thankfully!) Lon simply replied, "Duly noted." lol
Needless to say, that was a bit weird, but funny, especially since he knew exactly what I was talking about when I said, "Red card" vs. "cream" or "green" parent card. [If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see our post about it here.] Small world!
After that, Jeremy took us to Geneva so he could show us around campus, and see if he knew anyone still there. We got Jeremiah a new Geneva onsie (he had a t-shirt, but outgrew it pretty quickly...), had lunch with Jeremy's cousins (or 2nd cousins? I don't know how that works when it's your parent's cousins....), which was pretty good, considering it's college food (better than Ozark, at least!) Afterwards, we did some shopping, and grabbed some dinner at "Bowsers".
Now, Bowsers apparently serves their sandwiches "Pittsburgh Style". I didn't know there was a specific style for your sandwiches in Pittsburgh, but there is, and it's not the healtiest! Basically, you've got your meat, topped with cheese, coleslaw, and french fries. Yeah, the fries and coleslaw go on the sandwich. Maybe it has something to do with Pittsburgh industrial past--much easier (though that's arguable) to eat your entrees and sides on the go if they're in between two pieces of bread. It wasn't bad. Sorta reminded me of eating "poutin" but without the gravy... and it was on bread... with the coleslaw and meat... Well, look at that, I've learned of two new ways to eat french fries since marrying Jeremy. Hurray for me! :-)
Saturday was the wedding, so after a non-eventful breakfast at the B&B, we had a second breakfast (more like brunch) at Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe with an old mentor of Jeremy's. Side note: Now, maybe it's because I'm from "the north".... or actually, make that from anywhere but Pittsburgh, but I don't think of a hot dog place when I say, "Hmmm.... where should we go for breakfast?" I was teasing Jeremy all afternoon on Friday because he was taking us to a hot dog stand for breakfast. "It's not a 'hot dog stand', and the breakfast is pretty good." I guess it's just me then, because it still seems odd to have "hot dog" and "breakfast" in the same sentence. But it wasn't bad. Just don't ask for cheese on your eggs, because it comes from a can, and that stuff, unless it's on nachos or a cracker, is just NASTY. Yuck. But yeah, not that bad.
And then we were off! Three hours away, halfway across PA was our destination. Of course, even though we arrived at our hotel on time, we still got to the wedding late, but still got to see "the good stuff" (i.e. vows, rings, kiss, etc...) Oh, this was odd to me. Does no one clap at the kiss anymore? It seems kinda awkward to just sit there in silence and watch the bride and groom have their first kiss... I always remember applause for that! I don't remember if anyone clapped or not at our wedding... I think maybe no one did, but I don't know... That's a whole other story!
And this is getting really long, okay, yeah, so they kissed, we waited for pictures, went to the reception, had a nice dinner, back to the hotel by 8! Phew. Finally, by half-time during the Steelers game yesterday, we returned home, and were able to watch them whoop on the Seahawks, something like 21-zip. Not... too... shabby. (Sorry Seattle fans!)
That's about that.
Sorry for the long away, but we're back now. I'll try to be on here more frequently now that the move is DONE, vacation is DONE, and we can just be ourselves. It still feels kinda weird here, like we should be going back to Tysons to go home... We still drive that way, accidently. Did that coming home from my parents' house--got on 66, and drove to Tysons, before we realized what we'd done. Oops. But we're getting better. :-)
Jeremiah now has 5 teeth, with two more coming in. I think maybe I can stop giving a 'tooth-count', since they're just coming in all the time now! Sheesh. I think after the next two come in (three on bottom, two on top, next two coming in on top) he's got another coming in on the bottom. So more than likely, he'll have 8 teeth by his 1st birthday. Wow! His next appt is next Monday, so I'm sure we'll have more cool facts about how much he's grown then. He fits very well into 12-18 month clothes right now, with 24 month not bein' too large on him. Yikes! He's so much fun, though! Love to blah blah blah, and na na na.... He's started standing while holding things in his hands, like a toy, or his bottle. Doesn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to actually start walking yet, though. He could probably do it if he really wanted to, but he can crawl to where he wants to go pretty fast, so I guess he's content with that.
And that is that. :-)
Well, actually, we're not off anymore, and that is the problem. :-( Oh well. We had a relaxing vacation, overall, so can't really complain there!
Most of the week was spent here at home, just chillin', really. We did some shopping, ran some errands we'd been putting off, Jeremy beat Halo 3, took naps, watched tv, etc, etc...
Thursday, we went to Pittsburgh for a couple of days before heading to Williamsburg (PA, not VA) for a wedding. We stayed at a B&B run by a former professor at Geneva (where Jeremy went to college) and it was nice. Beds weren't very comfy, but we're spoiled by our Sterns & Foster Crowne Plaza bed, so there ya go.
Funny story: Friday we went down for breakfast (as is customary when staying at a bed & breakfast, in case ya didn't know. :-) and met the other guest that had also stayed there the night before. Apparently (small world) he lives in Silver Spring, and works for INOVA, managing the relationship between them and Geneva College (I guess a lot of med students at Geneva go work in INOVA hospitals, at least in the cardiology areas.) At some point, we mentioned the fact that Lon Solomon had a procedure done recently, to which he replied, "Oh, you go to Mclean? Me too!"
Interesting... but it gets better.
He went on to tell us that he attends the 12:30 service, and volunteers as head usher there. Jeremy said, "Oh yeah, you look familiar, I think I've seen you there before...."
"Probably." He responds.
"Wait a minute..." I said, "Did you give us a red card??"
To that, he smiled and said, "That was me."
Whoops!
Of course, we then went on to discuss that whole situation, and how much he hated that part of his job--he even told Lon (when he was in the hospital for his procedure over the summer, this guy hung out with him afterwards) how much he dislikes it (parents have even followed him out after church, yelling at him for insulting them, and who knows what else... we didn't go that far, thankfully!) Lon simply replied, "Duly noted." lol
Needless to say, that was a bit weird, but funny, especially since he knew exactly what I was talking about when I said, "Red card" vs. "cream" or "green" parent card. [If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see our post about it here.] Small world!
After that, Jeremy took us to Geneva so he could show us around campus, and see if he knew anyone still there. We got Jeremiah a new Geneva onsie (he had a t-shirt, but outgrew it pretty quickly...), had lunch with Jeremy's cousins (or 2nd cousins? I don't know how that works when it's your parent's cousins....), which was pretty good, considering it's college food (better than Ozark, at least!) Afterwards, we did some shopping, and grabbed some dinner at "Bowsers".
Now, Bowsers apparently serves their sandwiches "Pittsburgh Style". I didn't know there was a specific style for your sandwiches in Pittsburgh, but there is, and it's not the healtiest! Basically, you've got your meat, topped with cheese, coleslaw, and french fries. Yeah, the fries and coleslaw go on the sandwich. Maybe it has something to do with Pittsburgh industrial past--much easier (though that's arguable) to eat your entrees and sides on the go if they're in between two pieces of bread. It wasn't bad. Sorta reminded me of eating "poutin" but without the gravy... and it was on bread... with the coleslaw and meat... Well, look at that, I've learned of two new ways to eat french fries since marrying Jeremy. Hurray for me! :-)
Saturday was the wedding, so after a non-eventful breakfast at the B&B, we had a second breakfast (more like brunch) at Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe with an old mentor of Jeremy's. Side note: Now, maybe it's because I'm from "the north".... or actually, make that from anywhere but Pittsburgh, but I don't think of a hot dog place when I say, "Hmmm.... where should we go for breakfast?" I was teasing Jeremy all afternoon on Friday because he was taking us to a hot dog stand for breakfast. "It's not a 'hot dog stand', and the breakfast is pretty good." I guess it's just me then, because it still seems odd to have "hot dog" and "breakfast" in the same sentence. But it wasn't bad. Just don't ask for cheese on your eggs, because it comes from a can, and that stuff, unless it's on nachos or a cracker, is just NASTY. Yuck. But yeah, not that bad.
And then we were off! Three hours away, halfway across PA was our destination. Of course, even though we arrived at our hotel on time, we still got to the wedding late, but still got to see "the good stuff" (i.e. vows, rings, kiss, etc...) Oh, this was odd to me. Does no one clap at the kiss anymore? It seems kinda awkward to just sit there in silence and watch the bride and groom have their first kiss... I always remember applause for that! I don't remember if anyone clapped or not at our wedding... I think maybe no one did, but I don't know... That's a whole other story!
And this is getting really long, okay, yeah, so they kissed, we waited for pictures, went to the reception, had a nice dinner, back to the hotel by 8! Phew. Finally, by half-time during the Steelers game yesterday, we returned home, and were able to watch them whoop on the Seahawks, something like 21-zip. Not... too... shabby. (Sorry Seattle fans!)
That's about that.
Sorry for the long away, but we're back now. I'll try to be on here more frequently now that the move is DONE, vacation is DONE, and we can just be ourselves. It still feels kinda weird here, like we should be going back to Tysons to go home... We still drive that way, accidently. Did that coming home from my parents' house--got on 66, and drove to Tysons, before we realized what we'd done. Oops. But we're getting better. :-)
Jeremiah now has 5 teeth, with two more coming in. I think maybe I can stop giving a 'tooth-count', since they're just coming in all the time now! Sheesh. I think after the next two come in (three on bottom, two on top, next two coming in on top) he's got another coming in on the bottom. So more than likely, he'll have 8 teeth by his 1st birthday. Wow! His next appt is next Monday, so I'm sure we'll have more cool facts about how much he's grown then. He fits very well into 12-18 month clothes right now, with 24 month not bein' too large on him. Yikes! He's so much fun, though! Love to blah blah blah, and na na na.... He's started standing while holding things in his hands, like a toy, or his bottle. Doesn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to actually start walking yet, though. He could probably do it if he really wanted to, but he can crawl to where he wants to go pretty fast, so I guess he's content with that.
And that is that. :-)
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Bye for now.
Jeremy and I are on vacation. I don't want to be tied to the computer all week, so with a few exceptions, we will be unavailable via email and blog until next week. We have our phones, but not always on us, so if you need us, text us/leave a voicemail, and we'll get back to ya ASAP. :-)
Talk to you later!
Talk to you later!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Missed Friday... my bad.
Yesterday was a LONG day! We ran errands all day, then went to the apartment in Tysons to get all the random junk still left, packed and loaded up. We found a cleaning crew that worked weekends to come and do all the "fun" cleaning for us this morning, but had to get the junk out first!
Luckily, we were able to convince my brother, James, to call out at work (@ Modell's) and come down for the weekend. We got him to do the painting in Jeremiah's old room (primed back to white) and help Jeremy load the van with all the fun stuff we've been so anxious to bring over to the new house (so much so, we left it 'til last minute, partially hoping it would disappear, apparently....)
Thankfully, we got it done. Tomorrow, we turn in our keys, after we take down our old satellite dish, pick up the doormat, and throw out the trash. YAY! I'm so glad it's over (though the place does look pretty good now that it's all nice and clean... oh well.) Now I can focus 100% on the new house instead of feeling guilty for not getting stuff done elsewhere first.
In other news, tonight we threw a surprise birthday party for my Mom! She's never had a "real" party, let alone a surprise party, so when she walked into our house (we hosted... obviously... if it was our house.... I'd hope it was we who hosted!) and we were all there (including two of her brothers and their "families" [one isn't married, but was down here in DC with his girlfriend--she's really cool, already like one of the family!]) and James was there (because he was supposed to be at school, remember?) she 'bout freaked! (Was that not one of the longest sentences you've ever read??? That's the Jeremiah's Rose talking [a wine by Rockbridge Vineyards... good stuff! No relation to our Jeremiah, of course, but it does have a picture of a bullfrog on the label...]) The party was fun, and I think everyone had a good time. My Mom kept saying, "I'll never forget this birthday... this was the best birthday ever!" So I think it was a hit with her. :-)
Oh, and I finished the nursery! Painting wise, at least. Still need to get his bed set up, but at least tomorrow night, Jeremiah will be sleeping on a real mattress again, instead of in his Pack n Play! Yay! I'll post pics once I get it all done.
And that's all, folks! Time for bed. Wine makes me sleepy (and dyslexic, apparently... I keep spelling things "fo-net-ick-lee", which would really be tough to read... No more Rose for me. Sleepy time! G'night.
Luckily, we were able to convince my brother, James, to call out at work (@ Modell's) and come down for the weekend. We got him to do the painting in Jeremiah's old room (primed back to white) and help Jeremy load the van with all the fun stuff we've been so anxious to bring over to the new house (so much so, we left it 'til last minute, partially hoping it would disappear, apparently....)
Thankfully, we got it done. Tomorrow, we turn in our keys, after we take down our old satellite dish, pick up the doormat, and throw out the trash. YAY! I'm so glad it's over (though the place does look pretty good now that it's all nice and clean... oh well.) Now I can focus 100% on the new house instead of feeling guilty for not getting stuff done elsewhere first.
In other news, tonight we threw a surprise birthday party for my Mom! She's never had a "real" party, let alone a surprise party, so when she walked into our house (we hosted... obviously... if it was our house.... I'd hope it was we who hosted!) and we were all there (including two of her brothers and their "families" [one isn't married, but was down here in DC with his girlfriend--she's really cool, already like one of the family!]) and James was there (because he was supposed to be at school, remember?) she 'bout freaked! (Was that not one of the longest sentences you've ever read??? That's the Jeremiah's Rose talking [a wine by Rockbridge Vineyards... good stuff! No relation to our Jeremiah, of course, but it does have a picture of a bullfrog on the label...]) The party was fun, and I think everyone had a good time. My Mom kept saying, "I'll never forget this birthday... this was the best birthday ever!" So I think it was a hit with her. :-)
Oh, and I finished the nursery! Painting wise, at least. Still need to get his bed set up, but at least tomorrow night, Jeremiah will be sleeping on a real mattress again, instead of in his Pack n Play! Yay! I'll post pics once I get it all done.
And that's all, folks! Time for bed. Wine makes me sleepy (and dyslexic, apparently... I keep spelling things "fo-net-ick-lee", which would really be tough to read... No more Rose for me. Sleepy time! G'night.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Token short post.
I did not get to finish the nursery tonight... I'm all outta white paint. Need to get more tomorrow. Was gonna go get it today, but didn't feel like it, since I'll be out and about tomorrow.
In other news, it's raining really hard, which apparently means NO TV FOR YOU, COME BACK, ONE YEAR! I mean, c'mon, the one time I want to watch The Office, we freakin' lose the signal, because Mr. Satellite dish is sad that he's wet.... Aww, poor wittle satellite dish, doesn't like workin' in the rain. Poor baby.
Grumble grumble....
Are these really the quality posts you want to see on a daily basis?????
In other news, it's raining really hard, which apparently means NO TV FOR YOU, COME BACK, ONE YEAR! I mean, c'mon, the one time I want to watch The Office, we freakin' lose the signal, because Mr. Satellite dish is sad that he's wet.... Aww, poor wittle satellite dish, doesn't like workin' in the rain. Poor baby.
Grumble grumble....
Are these really the quality posts you want to see on a daily basis?????
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
My short post for the day.
News of the day: Jeremy got Halo 3. UH-OH! He got the super fancy "Legendary" edition, complete with a Master Chief replica helmet and a DVD of some sort. Yeah, I'm sure that was worth the big bux spent on it. But hey, there will only be ONE Halo 3. Might as well go all out, right??? It is the last one, after all. And... it's in HD. Even on this crappy tv we've got (42" Vizio LCD... who the heck is Vizio?!) temporarily, it's looks pretty freakin' awesome. Well done, Bungie, well done.
I've just about finished painting the nursery, just need to touch up some of the white. It looks a bit barbershop-ish, but I think it'll be okay. My Mom will let me know if it's not working... she's very blunt when it comes to stuff like that...
"You did this to spite me.... you should have asked for my permission first...." <~ Example.
And that's my short post for the day.
I've just about finished painting the nursery, just need to touch up some of the white. It looks a bit barbershop-ish, but I think it'll be okay. My Mom will let me know if it's not working... she's very blunt when it comes to stuff like that...
"You did this to spite me.... you should have asked for my permission first...." <~ Example.
And that's my short post for the day.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Yay for Heroes!
It's "premiere week", baby! Welcome back Heroes and Boston Legal! We've missed you this summer. Hope your's was good, our's was kinda crazy, but good. Bring on the goodness of Monday and Tuesday nights!
We still miss you, Lost. We'll see you in February.
Finally.... we have begun settling down.
Thursday marked a crappy, yet productive day, as Jeremy and I rushed to pack the night before, so the movers could move it all here. And they did, for the most part. A few items remain at the old place: my clothes (hanger stuff, most doesn't fit... :-( ), some stuff from the bathrooms, a few shelves, rug, fridge/freezer contents, paintings and pictures.... okay, I'm stopping that, it's depressing. We've got 'til Sunday to get it all out, and clean it all out. And it'll probably be Sunday before we get around to it, too.. Oh well.
Random note: Directv contractors are jerks. Or, ahem, "A"'s, as my FIL would say ('cuz sometimes 'jerk' just doesn't suffice....) :-) I mean, seriously, you're being PAID (not by me directly, but by my signing up for service...) to come out and do a job; Don't roll your eyes and treat your customer like a 5 year old... "See? My workorder says, 'One jack, one receiver.' ONE.... jack.... ONE.... receiver...." No crap, einstein, thanks for pissing me off! Grr.... I'm writing them an email. I want a free month or something, or I'm switching to FIOS (because, yes, I have options.)
Speaking of FIOS, my laptop is still dead. Thanks a lot, Mr. Fios! I wonder if I could get anything for free for that little hiccup... hmmm...
On to other things:
Jeremiah has decided that he will only eat "chunks" now; He's a big boy and wishes to be treated as such, so kindly please refrain from pureeing my food, Mommy!! (His words exactly, I swear.... well... I translated... roughly....) I mean, every time I put a spoonful of yummy turkey (in turkey gravy! yum!)/broccoli/sweet potatoes into his mouth, he would cry... until I put a little sweet potato puff in his mouth. Then he'd be happy. Eventually, I just cut up a bunch of stuff, left it on his tray until he had almost finished his dinner, and then gave him the spoon and bowl, "Have at it, kid." And boy did he! All over his face, his arms, the floor.... But he was happy, because he was a big boy, and he was eating all by himself.
Oi vey...
One thing I did not expect to learn how to do so soon was put a diaper on backwards... Because by the time I get the wet one off (and even the dirty ones), he immediately flips over and starts "running away". Mommy then has to go chase "the naked baby", and threaten (jokingly, of course, with serious undertones) "to catch the naked baby!" Of course, that then leads to "the naked baby" escaping even faster than before... and right off the side of the bed (I've got a hold of his leg by then, no worries...) See, before the movers came, we slept on a 'firm' (i.e. uncomfortable) mattress on the floor--he could crawl off and still be on his hands and knees. Now, though, the drop is a bit further, which he has yet to realize.
Of course, once we have the nursery set up (still in the painting stages) then I'll just strap him down to the changing table and let him scream (it's so fake.... he starts off doing the whole "coughing" cry, because that's soooo convincing.... yeah... manipulator in the making, already... they start young!) Either that, or I'll just have to keep my keys with me wherever I go, because those miraculously make him stop whatever it is he's doing and just look in awe at the mighty keychain. You'd think it was the holy grail or something--I guess to him, it is.
What else... Oh yeah. Jeremiah's now working on his balance--he can stand completely unassisted for about 3 or 4 seconds before he either plops on his bum, and flails his arms to grab the nearest thing (usually a couch or ottoman.) It's really cute, because he really has to build himself up to do it. You can almost see him thinking, "Alright, Jeremiah, you can do this.... Just wait a second, find your balance.... that's it... okay, now on the count of three, let go of the couch! One.... two.... THREE! You're doing it! You're doing it!" and then, plop. :-) So cute!
Other cuteness includes peek-a-boo. He LOVES it. I dunno why.... he knows what's coming, you can see him grinning through your hands... But it gets him every time... Even over webcam, as Grandmom and Granddad have proven--he loves it. And his favorite nursery rhyme goes something like this:
Man.... that just sounds worse and worse the more I say....
Moving on.
The house is coming along. We've gotten several rooms painted, baby gates up or on order, several projects yet unfinished, and lots of dreams/plans/desires of next steps. I'm going to enter in HGTV's $100,000 sweepstakes to see if they'll cover my renovation bills. That'd be nice, for sure. For now, Jason's been pretty helpful getting some stuff done. The place looks 100% better already!
We've returned to Mclean Bible, after a few weeks off. We did take the plunge and put Jeremiah in the nursery.... gulp. Yeah, all I think about during the sermon is, "I hope he's okay, I wonder what he's doing," etc... But he seems to enjoy it, for the most part. This past Sunday when we picked him up, he was crying... Some little girl was holding him, trying to give him a bottle, but I have a feeling he was done, didn't want anymore, and was crying because she wouldn't put him down. Then we got home and discovered they never changed his diaper (I sensed a dirty diaper going in, and it was still dirty coming out.... grr....) Needless to say, I'm not all that impressed. Sigh. But we'll try it again, and just let them know, "Hey, if he's dirty, CHANGE HIM!" and, "If he gets hungry, he'll probably only eat 6 oz, and then want to get down. If he's crying, it's probably because he wants down, not because he's fussy...." But whatever. I'd like to think it's good for him, to be able to interact with the other babies, but I wonder what happens all that time inbetween drop off and pick up.
And that's enough for now. A friend told me once that it's better to frequently do many short posts than rarely one long post. Whoops. Well, maybe I'll just try to do more longer posts. :-) At least I blog! Hint hint, wink wink.... you know who you are (and you are many!) :-) 'Just kid, just kid, silly boy...'
Inside joke.
Okay, then, to bed, I said! G'night.
We still miss you, Lost. We'll see you in February.
Finally.... we have begun settling down.
Thursday marked a crappy, yet productive day, as Jeremy and I rushed to pack the night before, so the movers could move it all here. And they did, for the most part. A few items remain at the old place: my clothes (hanger stuff, most doesn't fit... :-( ), some stuff from the bathrooms, a few shelves, rug, fridge/freezer contents, paintings and pictures.... okay, I'm stopping that, it's depressing. We've got 'til Sunday to get it all out, and clean it all out. And it'll probably be Sunday before we get around to it, too.. Oh well.
Random note: Directv contractors are jerks. Or, ahem, "A"'s, as my FIL would say ('cuz sometimes 'jerk' just doesn't suffice....) :-) I mean, seriously, you're being PAID (not by me directly, but by my signing up for service...) to come out and do a job; Don't roll your eyes and treat your customer like a 5 year old... "See? My workorder says, 'One jack, one receiver.' ONE.... jack.... ONE.... receiver...." No crap, einstein, thanks for pissing me off! Grr.... I'm writing them an email. I want a free month or something, or I'm switching to FIOS (because, yes, I have options.)
Speaking of FIOS, my laptop is still dead. Thanks a lot, Mr. Fios! I wonder if I could get anything for free for that little hiccup... hmmm...
On to other things:
Jeremiah has decided that he will only eat "chunks" now; He's a big boy and wishes to be treated as such, so kindly please refrain from pureeing my food, Mommy!! (His words exactly, I swear.... well... I translated... roughly....) I mean, every time I put a spoonful of yummy turkey (in turkey gravy! yum!)/broccoli/sweet potatoes into his mouth, he would cry... until I put a little sweet potato puff in his mouth. Then he'd be happy. Eventually, I just cut up a bunch of stuff, left it on his tray until he had almost finished his dinner, and then gave him the spoon and bowl, "Have at it, kid." And boy did he! All over his face, his arms, the floor.... But he was happy, because he was a big boy, and he was eating all by himself.
Oi vey...
One thing I did not expect to learn how to do so soon was put a diaper on backwards... Because by the time I get the wet one off (and even the dirty ones), he immediately flips over and starts "running away". Mommy then has to go chase "the naked baby", and threaten (jokingly, of course, with serious undertones) "to catch the naked baby!" Of course, that then leads to "the naked baby" escaping even faster than before... and right off the side of the bed (I've got a hold of his leg by then, no worries...) See, before the movers came, we slept on a 'firm' (i.e. uncomfortable) mattress on the floor--he could crawl off and still be on his hands and knees. Now, though, the drop is a bit further, which he has yet to realize.
Of course, once we have the nursery set up (still in the painting stages) then I'll just strap him down to the changing table and let him scream (it's so fake.... he starts off doing the whole "coughing" cry, because that's soooo convincing.... yeah... manipulator in the making, already... they start young!) Either that, or I'll just have to keep my keys with me wherever I go, because those miraculously make him stop whatever it is he's doing and just look in awe at the mighty keychain. You'd think it was the holy grail or something--I guess to him, it is.
What else... Oh yeah. Jeremiah's now working on his balance--he can stand completely unassisted for about 3 or 4 seconds before he either plops on his bum, and flails his arms to grab the nearest thing (usually a couch or ottoman.) It's really cute, because he really has to build himself up to do it. You can almost see him thinking, "Alright, Jeremiah, you can do this.... Just wait a second, find your balance.... that's it... okay, now on the count of three, let go of the couch! One.... two.... THREE! You're doing it! You're doing it!" and then, plop. :-) So cute!
Other cuteness includes peek-a-boo. He LOVES it. I dunno why.... he knows what's coming, you can see him grinning through your hands... But it gets him every time... Even over webcam, as Grandmom and Granddad have proven--he loves it. And his favorite nursery rhyme goes something like this:
Yeah.... don't ask. Okay, I'll tell ya anyways. When I was 12, my brothers Jason (11) and James (5? Maybe 4) went to Portugal to visit my grandparents in the Azores. Our youngest brother, Stephin (less than 1 at the time, roughly Jeremiah's age, actually) stayed home with my parents. Whilst in Portugal, Jason, in his randomness, came up with that song for Stephin. So originally, the baby's name was "Stephin" and not "Jeremiah", but we wanted Jeremiah to be the killer, not his uncle.Out in the darkness.... THERE LIVED A BIG MONSTER! Who liked to eat people..... ESPECIALLY LITTLE BABIES!
Once there was..... A BABY NAMED JEREMIAH! Killed the big monster, by saying,
BOO! BOO! BOOOOOOOO!
Man.... that just sounds worse and worse the more I say....
Moving on.
The house is coming along. We've gotten several rooms painted, baby gates up or on order, several projects yet unfinished, and lots of dreams/plans/desires of next steps. I'm going to enter in HGTV's $100,000 sweepstakes to see if they'll cover my renovation bills. That'd be nice, for sure. For now, Jason's been pretty helpful getting some stuff done. The place looks 100% better already!
We've returned to Mclean Bible, after a few weeks off. We did take the plunge and put Jeremiah in the nursery.... gulp. Yeah, all I think about during the sermon is, "I hope he's okay, I wonder what he's doing," etc... But he seems to enjoy it, for the most part. This past Sunday when we picked him up, he was crying... Some little girl was holding him, trying to give him a bottle, but I have a feeling he was done, didn't want anymore, and was crying because she wouldn't put him down. Then we got home and discovered they never changed his diaper (I sensed a dirty diaper going in, and it was still dirty coming out.... grr....) Needless to say, I'm not all that impressed. Sigh. But we'll try it again, and just let them know, "Hey, if he's dirty, CHANGE HIM!" and, "If he gets hungry, he'll probably only eat 6 oz, and then want to get down. If he's crying, it's probably because he wants down, not because he's fussy...." But whatever. I'd like to think it's good for him, to be able to interact with the other babies, but I wonder what happens all that time inbetween drop off and pick up.
And that's enough for now. A friend told me once that it's better to frequently do many short posts than rarely one long post. Whoops. Well, maybe I'll just try to do more longer posts. :-) At least I blog! Hint hint, wink wink.... you know who you are (and you are many!) :-) 'Just kid, just kid, silly boy...'
Inside joke.
Okay, then, to bed, I said! G'night.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Please just let me go to sleep!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
If Jeremiah had been a girl...
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Yay for internet!
Verizon came by this morning to install our FIOS internet service. YAY! So we are BACK ONLINE!
Unfortunately, while Mr. Fios was setting things up on my computer, he uninstalled my wireless card because it wasn't working properly. Normally, Windows would just allow a re-install, no problem. But noooooooo, Windows doesn't LIKE wireless cards. "You can have an ethernet connection, but no wireless..." BOOOOOOO WINDOWS!
And then, it died. Now, it won't let me outta the "boot into safe mode" screen (nope, it won't even let me do that. NO WINDOWS FOR YOU! COME BACK, ONE YEAR!) So my laptop, with all my pics, videos, music, etc, is now simply a paperweight. BOOOOO!
Thankfully, Jeremy has an "extra" work laptop that I can use to at least surf the net. Hopefully, he'll be able to fix mine so I can get my pics back.
It's good to be back!
Unfortunately, while Mr. Fios was setting things up on my computer, he uninstalled my wireless card because it wasn't working properly. Normally, Windows would just allow a re-install, no problem. But noooooooo, Windows doesn't LIKE wireless cards. "You can have an ethernet connection, but no wireless..." BOOOOOOO WINDOWS!
And then, it died. Now, it won't let me outta the "boot into safe mode" screen (nope, it won't even let me do that. NO WINDOWS FOR YOU! COME BACK, ONE YEAR!) So my laptop, with all my pics, videos, music, etc, is now simply a paperweight. BOOOOO!
Thankfully, Jeremy has an "extra" work laptop that I can use to at least surf the net. Hopefully, he'll be able to fix mine so I can get my pics back.
It's good to be back!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
A few house pics....
The backyard (to the right of the deck)
More backyard (view from the house)
Our very own pond! (Complete with goldfish--3 biggies and a baby... so cute...)
This'll hafta do for now. :-)
Grrr...
Found the cord to the camera (wasn't lost, just hiding on the coffee table, all tied up neatly.... yeah, I'm a spaz sometimes....) but now Google Video is giving me trouble....
For now, enjoy these pics! :-)
From this morning:
(the red-eye light kept making him squint...)
Did you see the chops on this guy?! I would keep fingers out of range, if I were you.... :-)
For now, enjoy these pics! :-)
From this morning:
(the red-eye light kept making him squint...)
Did you see the chops on this guy?! I would keep fingers out of range, if I were you.... :-)
Friday, September 07, 2007
Jeremiah is 8 months old!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
*Sniffle*
Well, it was bound to happen one day.... I just didn't think it'd be so soon!
Jeremy sold our 61" HDTV.... :-(
For those of you who were fortunate to bask in the warm glow of full high definition video, 2,073,600+ pixels of pure entertainment dancing across the screen, know exactly why it's so sad to see it go... That was a freakin' awesome tv!
But alas, it is gone, bought by a buddy of our loan officer (unbeknownst to him at the time) to put in a rec room somewhere in Arlington.
We will miss you, Samsung.....
....until we replace you with something better! :-)
Jeremy decided he wanted a projector for the basement instead. The construction of said, "Man Cave" has begun! Duhn duhn duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhn.....!
Of course, that still leaves us without a tv. So, looks like the "Stinkin' Lincoln"'s gotta go too. Cutting the fat, so to speak, in toys, to make room for different, better fat, like an LCD to put above the fireplace. Yeah, good times, good times.
In other news, I've misplaced the cord to the camera (sound familiar, Ali? lol), though we haven't actually moved yet, so there's really no reason for it to have gone astray.... I'm sure it's under the couch or in a cushion or something... I just haven't had a chance to look yet. Maybe I'll just try to use the card reader for the xbox, since I assume it's USB, but we'll see... The house is a work in progress anyways, so not much to check out for now. We'll keep ya'z posted!
Jeremiah is a weed.... My goodness. His latest trick: climbing stairs. Did I mention he can also pull himself to a standing position, now, and jump up and down while wailing for someone to come pick him up outta his crib??? Yup, started that a few days ago. He's also learned the ancient art of "pitching a fit", otherwise known as, "throwing a temper tantrum." If we're shopping in the store, and he doesn't want to sit in the cart anymore, "WAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Like he broke something, or is in extreme pain, or being abused.... All because he wants Mommy to pick him up. Uh-uh, young man, Mommy don't play that. Gonna nip that in the bud, ASAP!
It's kinda cute, though. He's learning to express himself.
Finally, Jeremy's grandmother passed away early Wednesday morning. She was 94. Definitely lived a long, full life. I did get to meet her once. We were planning on visiting in October, but I guess we'll visit Jeremy's great-aunt instead, who is 96, I think. The funeral is tomorrow (Friday), so we'll be driving up to Pittsburgh first thing in the morning.
The good news is that Ted and Charity will be coming back with us. They'll check out our new "crib", and of course, spend time with their favorite grandson. So though the weekend may start out on a sad note, it will progressively improve (hopefully!)
And that's that. :-)
Jeremy sold our 61" HDTV.... :-(
For those of you who were fortunate to bask in the warm glow of full high definition video, 2,073,600+ pixels of pure entertainment dancing across the screen, know exactly why it's so sad to see it go... That was a freakin' awesome tv!
But alas, it is gone, bought by a buddy of our loan officer (unbeknownst to him at the time) to put in a rec room somewhere in Arlington.
We will miss you, Samsung.....
....until we replace you with something better! :-)
Jeremy decided he wanted a projector for the basement instead. The construction of said, "Man Cave" has begun! Duhn duhn duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhn.....!
Of course, that still leaves us without a tv. So, looks like the "Stinkin' Lincoln"'s gotta go too. Cutting the fat, so to speak, in toys, to make room for different, better fat, like an LCD to put above the fireplace. Yeah, good times, good times.
In other news, I've misplaced the cord to the camera (sound familiar, Ali? lol), though we haven't actually moved yet, so there's really no reason for it to have gone astray.... I'm sure it's under the couch or in a cushion or something... I just haven't had a chance to look yet. Maybe I'll just try to use the card reader for the xbox, since I assume it's USB, but we'll see... The house is a work in progress anyways, so not much to check out for now. We'll keep ya'z posted!
Jeremiah is a weed.... My goodness. His latest trick: climbing stairs. Did I mention he can also pull himself to a standing position, now, and jump up and down while wailing for someone to come pick him up outta his crib??? Yup, started that a few days ago. He's also learned the ancient art of "pitching a fit", otherwise known as, "throwing a temper tantrum." If we're shopping in the store, and he doesn't want to sit in the cart anymore, "WAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Like he broke something, or is in extreme pain, or being abused.... All because he wants Mommy to pick him up. Uh-uh, young man, Mommy don't play that. Gonna nip that in the bud, ASAP!
It's kinda cute, though. He's learning to express himself.
Finally, Jeremy's grandmother passed away early Wednesday morning. She was 94. Definitely lived a long, full life. I did get to meet her once. We were planning on visiting in October, but I guess we'll visit Jeremy's great-aunt instead, who is 96, I think. The funeral is tomorrow (Friday), so we'll be driving up to Pittsburgh first thing in the morning.
The good news is that Ted and Charity will be coming back with us. They'll check out our new "crib", and of course, spend time with their favorite grandson. So though the weekend may start out on a sad note, it will progressively improve (hopefully!)
And that's that. :-)
Friday, August 24, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Quick fire:
~Jeremiah is getting new teeth; Two on the top now. Will post pics when he lets me take them.
~We close in 33 hours, and counting.... (woo-hoo! Will try to post video tomorrow night...)
~Lousy week for "back to school"... Rainy... "cold" (for August... seriously, 70??? In August?!?!?!)
~Big Fella's still retarded, but he'll be moving into the basement of our new house (where he will remain.... FOREVER!)
~Jeremiah has mastered the "hands and knees" method of crawling.... hide your things. He loves Legos. :-)
~Jeremiah likes bananas, plums, peaches, yogurt and toast. His dislikes chicken, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas & carrots, cereal.... basically, everything he SHOULD be eating primarily. Oh well, he'll come around...
~"I like turtles."
~We've upgraded Jeremiah's carseat to a convertible now, and his feet still hit the back of the chairs... Five more months, we can flip him around!
~The power of the "na-na-na"'s.... Or as Jeremiah says it, "Nyuh, nyuh, nyuh, nyuh, nyuh! Mm mm mm MA MA MA MA!" "Dd dd dd DA DA DA DA DA!" He could now sing many hit tunes, such as, "Angel is a centerfold"; "Na na na na. Na na na na. HEY HEY HEY! GOOD-BYE!"; "Hey Jude" and some Mark Schultz song that I keep hearing on the radio.
~"Jeremiah, do you want to go to Grandma's house???????" *Jeremiah shakes his head "no" back and forth* We didn't teach him that, I swear. :-) (If you haven't seen the video with this in it, it's below, but you have to watch until at least 6 or 7 minutes in...)
~Jeremiah really likes shoes... I don't know why, but if he's on the floor, and there are toys on one side, then shoes on the other, he'll go for the shoes (and then put them right in his mouth... eewww....)
And now for a word from our sponsors....
Oh, and I forgot to mention: I got spewed on.... Oooooozed, more like it. Jeremiah was "starving", sucked down 7 oz, didn't want to sleep, so was laughing and smiling at me while I tried rocking him to bed, when all of a sudden... Uck--uck---BLEEEECH! All 7 oz, I'm sure, all over me. Yuck. This morning, he still stunk like "baby puke" (this was no spit-up, my friends...)
Yeah.... the joys of parenthood.
~We close in 33 hours, and counting.... (woo-hoo! Will try to post video tomorrow night...)
~Lousy week for "back to school"... Rainy... "cold" (for August... seriously, 70??? In August?!?!?!)
~Big Fella's still retarded, but he'll be moving into the basement of our new house (where he will remain.... FOREVER!)
~Jeremiah has mastered the "hands and knees" method of crawling.... hide your things. He loves Legos. :-)
~Jeremiah likes bananas, plums, peaches, yogurt and toast. His dislikes chicken, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas & carrots, cereal.... basically, everything he SHOULD be eating primarily. Oh well, he'll come around...
~"I like turtles."
~We've upgraded Jeremiah's carseat to a convertible now, and his feet still hit the back of the chairs... Five more months, we can flip him around!
~The power of the "na-na-na"'s.... Or as Jeremiah says it, "Nyuh, nyuh, nyuh, nyuh, nyuh! Mm mm mm MA MA MA MA!" "Dd dd dd DA DA DA DA DA!" He could now sing many hit tunes, such as, "Angel is a centerfold"; "Na na na na. Na na na na. HEY HEY HEY! GOOD-BYE!"; "Hey Jude" and some Mark Schultz song that I keep hearing on the radio.
~"Jeremiah, do you want to go to Grandma's house???????" *Jeremiah shakes his head "no" back and forth* We didn't teach him that, I swear. :-) (If you haven't seen the video with this in it, it's below, but you have to watch until at least 6 or 7 minutes in...)
~Jeremiah really likes shoes... I don't know why, but if he's on the floor, and there are toys on one side, then shoes on the other, he'll go for the shoes (and then put them right in his mouth... eewww....)
And now for a word from our sponsors....
Oh, and I forgot to mention: I got spewed on.... Oooooozed, more like it. Jeremiah was "starving", sucked down 7 oz, didn't want to sleep, so was laughing and smiling at me while I tried rocking him to bed, when all of a sudden... Uck--uck---BLEEEECH! All 7 oz, I'm sure, all over me. Yuck. This morning, he still stunk like "baby puke" (this was no spit-up, my friends...)
Yeah.... the joys of parenthood.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
gg
(That's "good game" in online talk.)
Yesterday, Jeremy and I attended the Steelers vs. Redskins game at FedEx field (a "closing gift" from our load officer--I guess if you're going to give them $500k+ in interest over 30 years, it's the least they can do...) We had a great time! After Jeremy got in the "football spirit" by playing a round of Madden with Stephin (who'd been here since Tuesday), we drove out to Warrenton to drop off our future NFL star, Jeremiah, at Grandma/Grandpa's and then headed out to Landover, MD!
I tell ya, 2-3 hours before the game is the best time to arrive--we hit very little traffic (other than at the Woodrow Wilson bridge, where there seems to be traffic at any hour of the day [we hit it again coming home at 1:30 a.m.]) and had a wide choice of parking spots near the stadium (if you go to fedex field, and have a permit parking pass, get off at 15B, not 17B--there was ZERO traffic getting in, and out, even though Redskins Rd was a parking lot... crazy...) We settled on a spot amongst fellow citizens of the Steeler Nation! We parked, put together our baby charcoal grill (it's so cute, yes it is, so cuuuuuute!) lit the bag of charcoal, and sat back to relax.... Twenty minutes later, we were cookin' brats, burgers, and sweet potatoes, sipping bee--ars (mike's for me), and just chillin'. Good times, good times.
Around 7:20, we packed up our foods, doused the coals, pocketed a few beverages, and headed in. Oh, did I mention we had "club level" seats??? Yes, we did--and that is the ONLY way to watch a football game, IMHO. Here's the view from our seats (it was actually better than this, but you get the idea...)
They were sweet--in the middle of a bunch of die hard Redskin fans, but hey... we made enough noise to drown 'em out. :-) And the nice thing about club level (and besides the fact that our seats were cushioned, too...) is the lack of gum, vomit, and who knows what else all over the floors. In fact, they had granite tile floors (freshly cleaned), air conditioning, leather lounge chairs, big screens all over, and all sorts of restaurants to chose from (though they all mostly sold the same thing...) Yes, it was good times.
Yesterday, Jeremy and I attended the Steelers vs. Redskins game at FedEx field (a "closing gift" from our load officer--I guess if you're going to give them $500k+ in interest over 30 years, it's the least they can do...) We had a great time! After Jeremy got in the "football spirit" by playing a round of Madden with Stephin (who'd been here since Tuesday), we drove out to Warrenton to drop off our future NFL star, Jeremiah, at Grandma/Grandpa's and then headed out to Landover, MD!
I tell ya, 2-3 hours before the game is the best time to arrive--we hit very little traffic (other than at the Woodrow Wilson bridge, where there seems to be traffic at any hour of the day [we hit it again coming home at 1:30 a.m.]) and had a wide choice of parking spots near the stadium (if you go to fedex field, and have a permit parking pass, get off at 15B, not 17B--there was ZERO traffic getting in, and out, even though Redskins Rd was a parking lot... crazy...) We settled on a spot amongst fellow citizens of the Steeler Nation! We parked, put together our baby charcoal grill (it's so cute, yes it is, so cuuuuuute!) lit the bag of charcoal, and sat back to relax.... Twenty minutes later, we were cookin' brats, burgers, and sweet potatoes, sipping bee--ars (mike's for me), and just chillin'. Good times, good times.
Around 7:20, we packed up our foods, doused the coals, pocketed a few beverages, and headed in. Oh, did I mention we had "club level" seats??? Yes, we did--and that is the ONLY way to watch a football game, IMHO. Here's the view from our seats (it was actually better than this, but you get the idea...)
They were sweet--in the middle of a bunch of die hard Redskin fans, but hey... we made enough noise to drown 'em out. :-) And the nice thing about club level (and besides the fact that our seats were cushioned, too...) is the lack of gum, vomit, and who knows what else all over the floors. In fact, they had granite tile floors (freshly cleaned), air conditioning, leather lounge chairs, big screens all over, and all sorts of restaurants to chose from (though they all mostly sold the same thing...) Yes, it was good times. The highlight of the evening had to be winning the game, though. It was a pretty boring 3 quarters.... Neither team really did anything exciting (touchdown and field goal for Washington, 3 field goals for Pittsburgh.) Even Big Ben couldn't deliver--Batch seemed to have the best game, quarterback wise. However, once each team had it's 3rd-stringers in there, that's when it got exciting. After a tough possession, Steelers finally kicked their 4th FG to lead by 2. But there was still a minute 30 left on the clock. The Redskins could have easily won that--and they should have, as they had multiple opportunities to--they were in FG range with 30 seconds left on the clock! But throw in an incomplete pass, a couple of penalties, and they were backed on to the 42 yard line with no timeouts left on 3rd and 25 (I think... all I remember is that it didn't really matter at that point...) with 13 seconds left. Interception by Steelers=Steeler victory!
Heh, the silly skins fan next to me kept saying, "Yeah, they're going for it on 4th down cuz they've got "guts" (he used a different word, rhymes with "calls")" He left before I could tell him that it looked like they got their, ahem, "guts" handed back to them... ;-) But its all good (not very lady like, anyways....) We were friendly with each other (us and the skins fans). Besides, most of them weren't there for the game, but for the real "talent"--the Redskin cheerleaders. :-) At least, the guy behind us felt he needed to point that out everytime they came on, "See, here comes the REAL talent! Yeah, baby!" Ohhhhhhh kay.....
Ah yes, good times.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Ever wonder what happens...
....when Jeremiah doesn't get his afternoon nap???
Probably not, but you can now find out anyways! :-)
Probably not, but you can now find out anyways! :-)
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Last but not least...
The last of the videos.
The Chicken Video!
The Woot Monkey!
How 'bout that belly, huh??
Playtime with Jeremiah!
The Chicken Video!
The Woot Monkey!
How 'bout that belly, huh??
Playtime with Jeremiah!
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