Weekend Update - Part 1

This was worthy of its own post. Baby took two steps! She was standing and holding onto the couch. Husband was feeding her chopped meat from his dinner. She saw him standing a couple of steps away. She just turned, took two steps and grabbed his legs to beg for more food. We were so proud. It happened too fast to take photos or video, but we'll be ready next time. No walking today, but we can't wait to see more of her in action!

Character Crushes

I enjoy movies. I enjoy actors. I've also been known to see a movie just because a certain actor is in it. However, there are some actors that I only like in certain roles. For instance, I love Josh Lucas in Sweet Home Alabama. However, I've seen him in many other roles, and he didn't do it for me as much. On a similar note, I like Jude Law in The Holiday yet, outside of that movie, I sometimes like him and sometimes do not. I've been seeing this trend a lot. I like an actor. I'll look into his other projects and I'm like "oh". My crush is on the character, not the actor.

Now, the flip side are the actors which I adore no matter in what drivel they appear. That's another entry for another time.

Weekend Update

Last Friday, we went grocery shopping and then spent a quiet evening at home.

On Saturday, I woke up early and took Baby to JC Penney to get our family portraits. They were supposed to be ready on Friday. I assumed they would be ready any day after Friday as well. They were not. The thing is that JC Penney is not that close. So, that was annoying. Still, I met Sister and Nephew at the mall. We had lunch at Chick-Fil-A. I shared my lunch with Baby who does enjoy chicken (though not as much as pork). Then, I went home. Because Baby didn't take a nap all day, we took a 4-hour nap that afternoon.

On Sunday, I woke up and went to a friend's house to celebrate another friend's upcoming wedding. In lieu of a formal shower, we took her to get her nails done. I got my nails painted in my usual color - I'm Not Really a Waitress. I didn't realize there were some other nice colors. I'll have to try some of those out next time instead of going with my usual stand by. We made a nice Sunday dinner. I watched the most boring Emmy Awards ever and True Blood and went to bed. So, it was a quiet weekend, but it seemed like I was always doing something. However, none of those somethings was clean the apartment...

Larry Miller

I like Larry Miller. I can't claim to be his biggest fan, but I always enjoy myself whenever I see him work. He's playing the DC Improv this weekend, and I'm a little too busy to go. So, because I'm feeling sorry for my too-busy self, I decided to pull an oldie - The Five Stages of Drinking. Enjoy the classic. Audio of this is on his website as well.

LEVEL 1: It's 11:00 on a weeknight, you've had a few beers. You get up to leave because you have work the next day and one of your friends buys another round. One of your UNEMPLOYED friends. Here at level one you think to yourself, "Oh come on, this is silly, why as long as I get seven hours of sleep (snap fingers), I'm cool.".

LEVEL 2: It's midnight. You've had a few more beers. You've just spent 20 minutes arguing against artificial turf. You get up to leave again, but at level two, a little devil appears on your shoulder. And now you're thinking, "Hey! I'm out with my friends! What am I working for anyway? These are the good times! Besides, as long as I get five hours sleep (snaps fingers) I'm cool.".

LEVEL 3: One in the morning. You've abandoned beer for tequila. You've just spent 20 minutes arguing FOR artificial turf. And now you're thinking, "Our waitress is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen!" At level three, you love the world. On the way to the bathroom you buy a drink for the stranger at the end of the bar just because you like his face. You get drinking fantasies. (like,"Hey fellas, if we bought our own bar, we could live together forever. We could do it. Tommy, you could cook.") But at level three, that devil is a little bit bigger....and he's buying. And you're thinking "Oh, come on, come on now. As long as I get three hours sleep...and a complete change of blood (snaps fingers), I'm cool.".

LEVEL 4: Two in the morning. And the devil is bartending. For last call, you ordered a bottle of rum and a Coke. You ARE artificial turf! This time on your way to the bathroom, you punch the stranger at the end of the bar. Just because you don't like his face! And now you're thinking, "Our busboy is the best looking man I've ever seen." You and your friends decide to leave, right after you get thrown out, and one of you knows an ...after hours bar. And here, at level four, you actually think to yourself, "Well....as long as I'm only going to get a few hours sleep anyway, I may as well.... STAY UP ALL NIGHT!!!! Yeah! That'd be good for me. I don't mind going to that board meeting looking like Keith Richards. Yeah, I'll turn that around, make it work for me. And besides, as long as I get 31 hours sleep tomorrow ...................cool.

LEVEL 5: Five in the morning. after unsuccessfully trying to get your money back at the tattoo parlor ("But I don't even know anybody named Ruby!!!"), you and your friends wind up across the state line in a bar with guys who have been in prison as recently as...that morning. It's the kind of place where even the devil is going, "Uh, I gotta turn in. I gotta be in Hell- at nine. I've got that brunch with Hitler, I can't miss that." At this point, you're all drinking some kind of thick blue liquor, like something from a Klingon wedding. A waitress with fresh stitches comes over, and you think to yourself, "Someday I'm gonna marry that girl!!" One of your friends stands up and screams, "WE'RE DRIVIN' TO FLORIDA!!!!!"- and passes out. You crawl outside for air , and then you hit the worst part of level five- the sun. You weren't expecting that were you? You never do. You walk out of a bar in daylight, and you see people on their way to work, or jogging. And they look at you-and they know. And they say..."Who's Ruby?" Let's be honest, if you're 19 and you stay up all night, it's like a victory like you've beat the night, but if you're over 30, then that sun is like God's flashlight. We all say the same prayer then, "I swear, I will never do this again (how long?) as long as I live!" And some of us have that little addition, "and this time, I mean it!"

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. On the way to work, I even saw a man embrace the holiday by wearing a pirate hat with his suit. You don't see that everyday. Well, I don't. Maybe you do. I can't say I've ever had the desire to be a pirate. I'm not big on boats. I like regular bathing. It just always seemed so dirty and smelly and illegal to me. Still, who doesn't like to watch a pirate in the movies?

Let's Go, Mets!

Last night, Baby spent the night at In-Laws' house. Brother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, Husband and I went to see the Washington Nationals play the the New York Mets. This was my first time at Nationals Park. It was a really great stadium. We had fantastic seats. The night was Husband's Father's Day present.

I took a handful of photos, but my camera isn't the best. Plus, the photos shrink on the blog so I don't think you could see enough to make a difference. So, I only posted the ones of the guys and the girls. It is unfortunate that my head looks gigantic, but I guess that's what happens when you're the closest to the camera. I can't say I'm a fan of baseball (actually, I can honestly say the exact opposite), but I do enjoy seeing at least a game a season in person. When the weather is nice, like last night, and the seats are good, like last night, it can be a lot of fun. Because it's all about the food, I actually got a hot dog more for tradition. I just felt the need to have one. Next time, I'm just going for the ice cream.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I had it with my hair. So, I stopped to get it cut on the way home from work yesterday. It went fine. I usually just say I want it chin-length and then just let the hair stylist do whatever she wants. This works about 95% of the time. I just hate it when they style it at the salon because there's so much gel and mousse. Plus, yesterday, they tried to hide my bangs so I had this giant gap in my hair on one side. On the other side, all my bangs were hanging in my face. Still, it was good enough.

Then, today, I had to style it myself. It's a little flatter (mostly because I don't use any product at all). Still, it's similar except for the bangs which I spread out to hide my gigantic forehead. There's still a bit that hangs in my face, but I'm trying to ignore it. I bet if I spent more than 5 minutes on it, it can be passable. The main thing is that I'm afraid that it'll grow out funny because it does have some layers. The front is shorter than the back which is actually the opposite of the only direction I gave the stylist. I like the layers in the back though. I've yet to see if it's a side-part only haircut or if I can part it in the middle. I'm ok with parting it on the side. Plus, I can use a barrette and sweep it all back which works for me when I don't want the giant chunk in my face.

Huh. A side note is that I don't wear black that much (or I try not to), and I guess I wore black yesterday and today. I'll have to keep that in mind tomorrow.

Weekend Update - Closing Time

Last Friday, we just hung out at home after a hectic week of drama.

Last weekend was the last weekend In-Laws' pool was open this season. So, we were going to make the most of it. It was a humid day though the sun was hid by the tall buildings. In the morning, we hung around the house. We watched a little television and played with Baby. I had leftover pork for lunch. At our last pediatrician visit, the doctor said we could start feeding Baby table food. So, I gave her a small piece of pork. She turned ravenous. She couldn't eat enough pork. She was like a puppy. She'd come crawling from across the room, mouth open, drooling. I kept making her open her mouth to say "ahhh" so I could make sure she had no food in her mouth before I gave her more. So, now she sees me and just goes "ahhh". I also tried to take some photos for her First Birthday invitations. Mostly, she wanted to play so that was ok, too.

Then, we went to the pool. Because Baby wouldn't nap, it was perfect. We knew she's sleep in the pool. She had fun though the water was chilly for anybody over 5. I snacked mostly. We had a relaxing day with In-Laws. Then, we went home.

On Sunday, Brother-in-Law came over with nephew to watch football. I quickly cleaned the apartment. Later, Father-in-Law and the other Brother-in-Law came over for more football, and the house was full. It was fun. I guess it wasn't complete fun for half of the football teams out there, but it was nice to see everyone. I took Nephew to take a walk and get ice cream during football. He was a very good boy for me.

Nephew is a little older than Baby so we have a lot of his hand-me-downs. One of such hand-me-down is a chicken costume. Because it fits her at an odd time, we've just been randomly taking her photo with outfits and costumes. She didn't seem too amused, but it's good enough for blackmail later on. Plus, it was super hot that day so the heavy costume was a bit much. It does make me excited to see her in her Halloween costume! Oh, she's going to hate wearing it, but it'll be so cute!

As mentioned before, on Saturday, we went to the Fair Oaks Mall. Husband, Baby and I went to JC Penney to get our family portraits taken. Yesterday, we got our digital proofs to share with friends and family.

It was a difficult photo session. Because it was a promotional training weekend, the studio was a little bit chaotic and backed up. We were seen until about an hour after our appointment. Because Baby missed a nap (or two), she was exhausted. So, she fell asleep as soon as we got there. When they finally had time to see us, we had to wake her. So, we were already off to a bad start. She was good though. She was happy. She just didn't necessarily give us big smiles. She also didn't want to do anything the photographer wanted her to do.

I mean, Baby is 10 months old. She's going to pretty much do whatever she wants, whenever she wants. We weren't too picky. We didn't need the perfect photo - though I think we were very lucky. We wanted at least one photo of Baby and me, one photo of Baby and Husband, one photo of the three of us, and one photo of Baby by herself. It was more difficult to find photos of Baby by herself as she wouldn't look at the camera much.

Overall, I'm happy with the photos. I just need to buy a couple more frames though. Usually, I just put new photos in old frames, but we never had 8" x 10" photos of her before, and we purchased 2, I believe, maybe 3. So, it would be nice to display those.

After the ordeal, it may be quite awhile before we try for family portraits again, but that's ok. After her one-year and Halloween photos, we'll be done for awhile. I just wanted photos where she was still a baby. The next photos, she'll be a big girl and possibly walking/running. I needed as many photos of our Baby as possible. Plus, she won't have the baby feet. They'll be flat big girl feet. Cute but not "oh-my-goodness-I-need-to-nibble-on-those-toes" cute.

Weekend Update - Oh, Hanna...

Some days, you just need a drink. Some days, you can actually relax and have that drink. Last week was one of those weeks. So, it was nice to have the opportunity to sit back with a drink or two Friday night. It was a rough week at work where things just piled up and clients were unhappy - a lot of fires and two firefighters. Then, as it turned out, we ended up celebrating Brother-in-Law's birthday Friday night. Husband and I left Baby with Inlaws for the night and went to Crystal City Sports Pub. We met up with friends of Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law. It was a nice night. I had been craving an amaretto sour, and they really just hit the spot. Then, Husband I went grocery shopping and enjoyed the evening alone. Sadly, we ended up going to bed super early. We enjoyed sleeping late the next morning more!

On Saturday, we went to the Fair Oaks Mall. We met Sister, Brother-in-Law and Nephew for lunch for Chinese food. Then, Husband, Baby and I proceeded to JC Penney to get our family portraits taken. This past summer, when we had Baby's 7-month portraits taken, the studio mentioned that it would be receiving digital equipment. We were invited back to take advantage of the training weekend. If we participated, we received 50% off any photo package. So, we thought it was a good opportunity to get family portraits done. They weren't kidding about the training portion of the day. They were backed up by about an hour (and this included cancellations due to Tropical Storm Hanna). Baby missed a nap and fell asleep as soon as we got there so she had to be woken up for photos. So, she wasn't very cooperative. She was happy, but she wasn't really as cooperative as she usually is. Part of that is also because she's much more mobile than previous sittings. The photographer was less than accomodating. It took over a half an hour to see proofs. Anyway, it took much longer than expected. As soon as we have the digital proofs, I'll post some. I think the majority of the photos came out well.

On Sunday, we all stayed in to watch football. In my case, I read a book and snacked while there was football on in the background. Thus ended another weekend.

An Update of the Week

This week has been a little nutty. It’s a short week, too! On Tuesday, I stayed up (really) late to watch the new incarnation of 90210. It was worth it, but I was exhausted. The next night, a friend and I took a road trip to Maryland to support our friend during her grandmother’s memorial. When I got home, I stayed up late again to watch Bones. I am so excited that there is new tv premiering! So, Thursday, I was exhausted again. Thursday also happened to be the work day from Hell. I did nothing wrong, but it was just a day where everything went wrong. Thursday night, I had to go out, too. My bowling team met at Kilroy’s for happy hour. Then, I left early to head to the bowling alley and buy bowling shoes. It was the best investment I ever made. I kept meaning to purchase shoes for years and just haven’t. Thursday was opening night of our league play. Our team, after the unofficial scoring has been completed, won our opening game. Hopefully, it’s the beginning of a successful season!

That leads me to the weekend again! We’re expecting effects from Hurricane Hanna. I was hoping to rest a little, but we have a moderately busy weekend. Still, I’ll be able to nap a little here and there. More on the weekend next week!

(Long) Weekend Update

This was a super duper relaxing weekend. On Friday, we mostly just hung out.

On Saturday, Husband went to the driving range while Baby and I stayed home. It was quite the lazy day. We stayed in bed all morning. Then, we got up right before Husband got home. Then, I took a nap.

On Sunday, Husband played golf. while Baby and I took a walk. This was the first walk where Baby sat in the stroller like a big girl and not in the carrier portion. At first, she wasn't sure what to do, but I think she liked the different point of view. We walked to Chipotle and then to the mall. Baby enjoyed a teething biscuit while I had a burrito bol. Then, we bought Husband some socks, and Baby got a new outfit (stay tuned next weekend for why).

On Monday, Labor Day, we cleaned the house (or mostly cleaned... I still have the bedroom to finish dusting). Husband hosted his Fantasy Football draft at our house. So, it was a quiet day.

Now, lately, Baby has been a happy baby. She always has been. She wakes up and smiles. She hangs out with us and laughs. However, lately, she won't sleep in her crib. She is tired. She rubs her eyes and will fall asleep while we rock her, while she's in her playpen, or while she's in her bouncy chair. The minute she's in her crib or we place her in her crib while sleeping, she flips out. So, it's made nap time and, even worse, bed time, impossible!

So, Baby will be hanging out with us in her chair and, next thing you know, she'll be folded over and sleeping. Then, you touch her and she's up and it's time to party.

I'm sure it's just a phase. Meanwhile, we're just tired. Still, it is nice to have her cuddly when she's tired so I guess there's a positive spin on things.