Caniac Carnival

Last Sunday was the Caniac Carnival in Raleigh, which is a big shindig that the Canes put on to officially kick off hockey season...it's a good time -- live music, lots of bouncy things for the kids to play on, and this year, they brought back the red/white scrimmage game.

We got there about an hour before the game started, so we grabbed a couple of hotdogs and drinks (which, at this event,  are the cheapest you'll be able to get them all season), and Ella decided she wanted to try some of the bouncy things.

Jon and I were a little hesitant because we've seen the crazy violent throwing around of bodies that goes on in some of these bounce devices, and Ella is not an agressive kid when it comes to stuff like that.  Plus she's tiny.  Also, she tends to say she wants to do big, brave stuff, only to not be quite so big and brave when it comes down to it.

But anyway, we went ahead, although we started out pretty small, with a little mini-bounce house:

Clearly, that went over pretty well.

While we'd been waiting in line, Ella had spotted a big inflatable slide near where we were standing, and had declared that she wanted to do that next.  This was one of those deals where you also had to climb up the inflatable ladder/staircase to get to the top.  I must have asked her 3 or 4 times if she was sure she wanted to try that one, and every time, I was met with a resounding, "Yeah!"

I was pretty convinced that Jon would have to help her up the stair ladder.  With her eye issues, she had depth perception issues, and even though they've gotten better since her surgery, she's still tentative on stairs.

So we waited in line again, and when it was her turn, she stormed up the stairs without even looking back at us, and slid on down like it was her job!

Up and down!

After that, she did a couple more bounce things, and then it was almost time for the red/white game.  We headed in, stopping at the team store and dropping some money -- and Jon surprised Ella with her first hockey jersey!  We were a little bit more excited about it that she was, though.  I don't have a good picture of her with it on yet -- soon!

We only stayed for the first period of the game, but it was fun, and great to see live hockey again after having not been to a game in such a long while.

Goal!

The reason we only stayed one period is because earlier, Ella had spotted what she referred to as "the spin".  And she would NOT let up about wanting to go ride it.  Basically, it was this thing with 4 seats and handlebars out in front of each seat that the riders would pump to propel the ride (sometimes sickeningly fast) around in a circle.

We thought at first that there was a height restriction, but I checked with a volunteer, and she confirmed that there wasn't.  So we waited, and tried to make sure that Ella really know what she was getting into.

The gals who were running the ride did a good job of pairing up people kind of in the same age group, so Ella was with 3 other younger girls...no chance of anyone getting slung off the ride.

Once she got on the ride, I think she was a little nervous -- no smiles or anything -- but when she got off, she said it was fun!  She couldn't really reach the handle to help pump, but she tried.  It was cute.

And so ended our day of fun -- we hit The Cheesecake Factory for lunch on the way back, and the poor kid was so worn out, she didn't eat anything, and fell asleep before we were on the highway.  If that's not the sign of a good day, I don't know what is.

Triad Highland Games

I got a deal on Groupon last week for 2-for-1 tickets to the Triad Highland Games.  We'd never been, so we thought it might be a fun thing to check out. 

There were loads of vendors, including one selling:

Yes, those are haggis-flavored chips.  I tried them -- they weren't bad!  I wasn't brave enough to try the real deal, though, which was being sold at another stand.  No thanks.  I'm only brave to a point.

I enjoyed watching the dancers -- Jon, not so much, but he put up with it for awhile.

 We watched some really strong guys heave a 58-pound weight over a bar.  Well, some of them heaved it over the bar.  Some of them just heaved it.

Ella pumped up with an IRN-BRU:

And there were bagpipers and drummers there as well.

All in all, good family fun, even though I came home w/a somewhat nasty sunburn :(  Boooo me.

Finally, a decision.

Last week, Jon and I were in Salt Lake City.  Jon's work sent us (and some other employees as well) out there to check out the city, see if we thought we could live there, etc.

It was a heckuva long flight out thre, and on the long leg from Atlanta to SLC, we were not able to sit together and both stuck in middle seats -- the WORST.  Ugh.

We got in around 6:30pm local time, and found it was snowing.  Wha?  Neither of us really brought appropriate clothing, as the forecast hadn't mentioned snow.  But snow it did -- all weekend.

It's hard to get a real feel for a city when you're stuck on a bus for most of the time you're there.  Even harder when it's snowy and foggy the whole time.  We didn't have a ton of time to explore on our own, either -- the weekend was crammed pretty full.  We did go down to Temple Square one evening, and wandered around for about 10 minutes, before someone came up to us and told us they were ready to shut the gates for the night, and could we please leave?  Ha.

The Temple was smaller than I expected.

Overall, we liked the city, and when we could actually *see* it, it was really pretty.  There are mountains on two sides of the city, and those make for some stunning views.  All the people we met there were really nice as well.

We could finally see the mountains -- from the plane on the way home.

Ultimately, though, we decided that even though we liked it out there, and we definitely want to go back for a *real* vacation, it wasn't the place for us right now, and we're going to stay in NC.   There were lots of good reasons for us to move, but far more reasons for us to stay.  So that's what we're doing, and frankly, I'm thrilled :)

More on Jon's job

I think I mentioned a few posts back that Jon got a call from his boss when were in FL to tell him that the center he works at is closing.  That wasn't anything that we were ever expecting, and sort of put us into a tailspin.

Turns out, though, that things aren't as *quite* as bad as we initially expected.  Yay?

Really, though, the company is doing a *lot* for their employees, including super-generous severance packages, the opportunity to work virtually for some people, or the option to relocate to one of their other three centers in Phoenix, Ft Lauderdale, or Salt Lake City.

We did a good amount of research, went to relocation seminars at Jon's work, and after weighing everything out, it seems like Salt Lake City is going to be the best fit for us.  Who would have thought it?  We're actually pretty excited.  Or as excited as you can be when your hand is forced like ours is being, I guess.

Jon's busy interviewing for various positions right now, and we don't have any sort of timeframe at this point -- it's sort of been just "hurry up and wait".  It's a little frustrating for me, since I have zero control over the situation, and have very little information -- I tend to be kind of Type A about stuff like this.

But anyway, the company is sending us on a scouting trip of sorts next month -- flying us out, putting us up for a few nights, and letting us get a general feel for the city and the center Jon would be working in.  Pretty nice.  And we'll get to meet with our real estate person while we're out there and get an idea of some housing options, too.

So that's where we are with that.  Not a ton of information, really, but I'll update more as we know more.

The past month and a half.

Well.

It's been a little nuts around here lately.

Here's what's been going on:

• We took Ella on her first trip to Walt Disney World, which was fantastic.  Mom and Dad went with us, too, and we had a great time.  More on that later, plus pictures.  
• I completely fell off the "picture a day" bandwagon.  Boo me.
• We found out that the center where Jon works is closing by the end of the year.  Oh, mercy -- serious panic mode, especially given that Jon got the call from his boss on the first day of our vacation.  
• Since then, though, we've found out that the company is being *extremely* generous with relocating employees to their three other centers (Phoenix, Ft Lauderdale, and Salt Lake City), and are offering home-based positions as well.   We're still exploring the options -- no final decisions have been made yet, but right now, there's a pretty good chance we'll be Utah residents by the end of the year.  More on this later as well, as we find out more information, and decisions are made.

I think that brings us fairly up to speed, and now March is just around the corner.  Sheesh.

Sicky.

Evidently, something Ella had last night at dinner didn't agree with her, and she woke up at 2:30 am, having thrown up all over herself.  It was the first time we'd had this happen, and understandably, she was a little freaked out (as were we).  I felt terrible for her, b/c she just didn't get what was going on and was so upset.

Jon and I made a good team -- he got her bed and room cleaned up, and I got her cleaned up.  She didn't want to go back to sleep right away, so we sat up for about an hour until she felt comfortable enough to lay back down.  She slept through the rest of the night with nary a peep, thankfully.

It seems like it was just a one-off thing...even though she clearly felt a little out of it earlier in the day, she kept everything down that she ate, and by the end of the day, she was pretty much back to 100%.

005/365

005/365
Originally uploaded by applegreensea

Jon brought me home this rose almost a month ago, and somehow, it's still hanging on. In fact, until I started moving it around a bit today, it hadn't even lost any petals (two fell off).

WDW Trip Report Day 2 - Epcot

On Wednesday, Jon and I headed over (not too early in the morning, though) to Epcot.  We had major plans for the Food and Wine festival, which unfortunately, didn't really come to fruition -- more on that later.

We started out going on the "new" Nemo ride at The Seas -- new to us, I should say.  We've visited several times since the ride was added, but had just never made it over there before.  It was pretty impressive.  The technology used apparently took a really long time to develop, and having seen it, I can understand why.   Very cool stuff.  The ride drops you off in the aquarium portion that was there before the ride existed, and we spent some time looking at the manatees and sharks and whatnot.

Since we got to the park sort of late-morning, and had to wait a while to exchange our vouchers for our annual passes, we were coming up on our lunch reservation.  We decided to head back to the World Showcase and start the trek to Italy, stopping in a couple of shops along the way in Canada and the UK.  

Lunch was at Via Napoli in the Italy pavilion, which had just opened a couple of months or so ahead of our visit.  The restaurant was lovely on the inside -- a nice big open space, gorgeous wooden beamed ceilings, and three fantastic wood-burning ovens.  We were seated on the back wall, so we had a good view of everything.  

The dining plan worked a little differently here, so we wound up each getting an appetizer (calamari for Jon and the arancini for me), and then we shared our two entrees -- the shrimp Caesar salad and the quattro formaggi pizza.  

Jon and I both were pretty excited about eating here, and I think we both were pretty underwhelmed.  The food was good -- don't get me wrong.  But it wasn't great, and if we hadn't been on the dining plan, I think we would have felt really ripped off.   Jon did really enjoy his dessert, though, which was the gelato frizzante (and Italian ice cream soda).  And I will say, the service was outstanding.  We were taken care of by about three different people, and our main waiter, Andrea, clearly knew how to earn a good tip with the ladies -- he was chatty and flirty, and very easy on the eyes.  (Sorry, Jon.)

After lunch, we wandered through the rest of the World Showcase.  Jon grumbled about Disney's newest moneymaker, Duffy the Bear, whenever he saw any of his merchandise.  My threat to make him have his picture taken with Duffy and wear the "I Hugged Duffy" sticker, sadly, did not come to fruition.  We also made our one and only Food and Wine stop at the Poland kiosk.  We were just too stuffed from lunch to do much damage otherwise.  We shared (although Jon drank most of it) a Belvedere Strawberry Balsamic Chiller, which was as odd as it sounds.  

After a ride (at my request) through Spaceship Earth (which for some odd reason was the ride I had been thinking about the most before our trip), we headed back to the hotel to relax for a bit.  I should mention here that it was HOT while we were down there -- we had planned for a bit cooler weather than we actually had.  So we wound up going back to the hotel and taking showers each day before dinner.  

Full moon over the Boardwalk

We headed back to the Boardwalk and hung out there a little while before heading to dinner on the other side of the lake at the Yachtsman Steakhouse.  We'd eaten there once before, were very impressed, and were looking forward to our return visit.  

We were seated in a small alcove off the main dining room with only three other tables, which was nice and cozy.  Only one other table in our room even had kids, and they were very well-behaved!  

On a quest to be somewhat adventurous with my food on this trip, I decided to branch out and try the escargot to start.  I'd only ever ordered escargot once before, and when it arrived to the table, I was unable to eat it.  However, that was a number of years ago, and I've branched out a lot since then, culinarily speaking, so I was excited to give it another shot.  I have to admit, they were not what I was expecting at all, but the flavor grew on me, and they were pretty dang tasty!  (I expect that the very liberal dousing they got in the garlic-herb butter helped out with that.)  Jon started out with the charcuterie board, and I can't find a listing for the components online, but I recall some sort of venison sausage, maybe?  From the looks of my picture, there was also some proscuitto and a cheese with some manner of jam.  He seemed happy with the whole spread.  And yes, it really was brought out on a board -- good thing, as we both would have been disappointed otherwise :)

For entrees, we had -- you guessed it -- steak.  Jon went with the New York strip, and I chose the filet mignon.  Both good, but not the sort of knock-your-socks-off steaks that we remembered having the first time we were there.  

When dessert came around, we ordered the same thing again (two times in two meals!), which was the trio of Valrhona  chocolate.  We were both tempted by the description of "salted caramel".  Yum.  

All in all, lovely, if very hot day.  For Day 3, we planned to head over to the park we visit the least: Animal Kingdom.

Walt Disney World Trip Report - Day 1

For our 5th anniversary, Jon and I decided to splurge a bit and take a few days for ourselves at Walt Disney World.  It only made sense -- we were engaged there, and spent part of our honeymoon there.


So last Tuesday, 10/19, having deposited Ella at Grandma and Pop's, and the dogs at the vet's for boarding, we headed to Raleigh to catch our 1:00pm (direct!) flight to Orlando.  Our flight was somewhat late in leaving -- never a fun way to start off a trip.  But I guess the pilot was able to make up some time in the air, as we arrived only about 20 minutes later that originally planned.


When we arrived, we collected our luggage and made the long trek from Terminal A to B, so that we could catch our ride on Disney's Magical Express.  This was our first time using this service, and as it was free, I really have no complaints about it at all.  (I should mention that normally, when using the DME, you don't even have to worry about collecting your own luggage.  It's done for you and brought right to your room.  However, we waited 'til the 11th hour to sign up for it, as we were hoping to get a cheap rental car, and because we waited, we didn't get the special DME luggage tags in time.)  The bus was there waiting for us, so we were able to get right on (and in typical Disney fashion, the process was super-efficient and organized), and the ride went by quickly -- they showed a cute video with the characters all about the check-in process and whatnot, followed by an old Donald Duck cartoon.

Our home base for the next few days would be the All-Star Sports Resort -- crossing another resort off our list in our quest to eventually stay at all of them.  (So far, we are at 9.)  I had used the online check-in service, another first for this trip, which was wonderfully convenient.  There was no line at the check-in desk, so we had all of our documents and information in no time at all.   We had booked a standard room, but were upgraded to a preferred room, which turned out to be in the building right next to the main building -- a nice treat, and not expected at all.

Since we arrived so late in the afternoon, we opted not to hit a park that day, and instead killed a little time at Downtown Disney before heading over to the Boardwalk.  We had dinner booked that night at the Flying Fish Cafe, and I have to admit, I was leery.  I'd gotten *really* sick after eating here a few years ago, and was definitely nervous about going again.  However, Jon is a big fan of the place, and he finally talked me into it.

I wasn't disappointed.  In fact, it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.

The "cafe" wouldn't light up for me at the right time.  Hmph.

I started out with the Fresh Mozzarella di Bufala, "Ugli Ripe" Beefsteak and Tiny Florida Grape Tomatoes -- your basic caprese salad, more or less, which is always hard for me to resist when I see it on the menu.   Deeeelicious.  Jon had the  Signature Flying Fish Cafe "Crispy Maine Coast Jonah Crab Cake" - Savory Vegetable Slaw, Roasted Red Pepper Coulis, and Ancho Chile Rémoulade" to start, and said it was quite good as well.  

For entrees, we did something we hardly EVER do --  we ordered the same thing: Oak-grilled Maine Diver Scallops - Pumpkin, Sage, Pecorino Romano and Mascarpone-laced Risotto di Carnarolli, with Proscuitto di Parma Cracklin'.  (When we were planning our meals, this was actually the dish on the menu that convinced me to give them another try.)

Oh my, oh my!  This was so, SO good.  The scallops were cooked perfectly -- they just seemed to melt in your mouth.  The risotto was amazing, and complemented the scallops perfectly.  And the cracklins!  Here's a bit of advice for you, my friends: if you ever have the chance to order a dish with ANY kind of "cracklin" listed as an ingredient -- DO IT.  If you don't, I might just hunt you down and smack you, because really, you've just done yourself a major disservice.  

L-R: Mozzarella Salad, Crab Cake, Scallops, Banana Napoleon

My dessert was the "Signature Flying Fish Café Caramelized Banana Napoleon - phyllo, banana mousse, creme caramel, exotic fruit coulis and bitter chocolate".  Very yummy, although I found it a little difficult to eat -- all the stuff in the phyllo keps squishing out, so it became kind of messy and hard to get a nice bite with everything on it.  I can't remember for the life of me what Jon had for his dessert -- I'll have to consult with him and get back with that one.  

We received personalized "Happy Anniversary" menus, which we got to keep, and a complimentary glass of champagne each -- both very nice touches that made the evening a little more special.



After a relaxing evening, and a delicious meal, we headed back to our resort.  The day of travelling had worn us down, and a good night's sleep was in order before we hit the parks the next day.

House a-fire! Well, almost.

I was going to bake some cookies today, and as standard when baking, I turned on the oven to preheat to 375.

I was getting the dough all mixed up and had just put it in the fridge to chill for a few minutes. I was putting things away, wiping up around the stove, when the oven beeped at me. I glanced up, and it had turned itself off. I thought maybe I had accidentally bumped the buttons when I was wiping, so I turned it back on -- same thing happened again.

I opened the oven -- it was SO FREAKIN HOT. Had to be at least 500+ degrees. The element was glowing super-bright orange, and it was smoking. It was almost like it was on the auto-clean mode.

At this point, I was in a bit of a panic, and I went and retrieved Jon to come have a look. He was as baffled as I was, and despite the fact that the oven was OFF, it really seemed like it was getting hotter and hotter. It certainly wasn't cooling down any at this point.

We weren't sure how we were going to manage this, and I finally remembered -- the breaker! So Jon went out and flipped the breaker to cut the power to the oven, and it finally went off. It took a really long time to cool down and stop smoking, though.

Needless to say, I'm a little freaked out about using the oven now. We're going to get someone out to look at it, but I've got no idea when that might be, and I've got to bake for Ella's b-day party next weekend...UGH.   

Mother's Day came early around here!

Here's my new toy that Ella and Jon got me for Mother's Day:

The Magic Mouse!  (Yes, I am the kind of dork who gets a new mouse for Mother's Day and thinks it's awesome.)  It's taken me a little getting used to, but it's really neat.  I'm planning to upgrade my OS to Snow Leopard here in the next day or two as well, and then I'll be able to download the BetterTouchTool add-on, which apparently really kicks up the capabilities.

As additional Mother's Day treats, I got to sleep in this morning, which was lovely, and Jon made breakfast for me, too.  It was meant to be breakfast in bed, but I woke up before he finished cooking :)  Then we went out to dinner with my folks tonight. 

All in all, a lovely day.

On a completely unrelated note, I am beyond excited that Friday Night Lights is back on TV!  Oh, my...this is such a good show.  If you're not watching, you're really missing out.  I don't even like football, and I can't get enough of this show.  The acting, the writing, the soundtrack, the cinematography...it's all just amazing. 

Xmas Redux.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind holiday weekend, with baking and presents and last-minute shopping. I braved the grocery store on the 23rd to get all the necessities for our dinner, and for the cheesecake I was making for dessert on Christmas Eve. This was the first cheesecake I'd ever made, and I was really worried about how it would turn out...especially after it seemed rather custard-y after I pulled it out of the oven.



But it turned out great! It was an orange chocolate swirl cheesecake, and it was really, really yummy. I even made the crust (although I will admit I bought the graham cracker crumbs...I can never crush 'em as small as they need to be).

Christmas Eve was dinner and presents over at Mom and Dad's house....Mom made and awesome meal of lasagna, Caesar salad and garlic bread. Ella got completely spoiled by all the presents from Grandma and Pop, MawMaw (Ella's great-grandma) and great-aunt Carolyn and great-uncle Norman. She wasn't so much into opening the presents, but liked playing with stuff once it was unwrapped.

Speaking of spoiled, Jon and I got a gorgeous new KitchenAid mixer! We were not expecting it at all, and we were thrilled to get it. We'd been wanting one for so long, and just kept putting it off.



We actually came home and used it that same night -- or Jon did, anyway -- to make the Irish potato casserole for dinner the next day. It's bad-ass, I have to say. And gorgeous.

Santa was very good to Ella -- she got books, puzzles, alphabet blocks, stuffed animals, and her most favorite present:



Her comfy chair! She loves her chair. We've had a couple of tipping-over incidents from overenthusiastic sitting, but nothing more than a head bonk.

Dinner on Christmas Day was rib roast, the aforementioned Irish potato casserole, and Tuscan-style peas (Mario Batali's recipe). All deeeeelicious. Jon used Alton Brown's method of cooking the roast under a terra cotta pot (yes, we took the roast into Home Depot with us to make sure we bought a pot that it would fit in), and it came out SO tender and juicy. We bought way too much meat -- Jon looked like he had a Flintstones-size hunk of beef on his plate, bone and all. Needless to say, we had lots of leftovers for prime rib sammiches. Yum.

Originally, I was going to make a yule log for dessert -- it was a nightmare. Complete disaster. A couple of factors probably contributed to this: 1) I didn't really have a good recipe -- as I discovered once I started baking, 2) I was baking at around midnight, which probably isn't a good idea. This is what I wound up with:



Yeah. Not great. Luckily, we had leftover cheesecake.

All in all, a great holiday. I'll wrap up my epic most with a few more random pictures:

What's that saying again...

...about good intentions? And the road to hell? Something like that.

We had such nice plans this weekend -- Renaissance Faire one day and Duke Gardens and dinner with the Robersons on another.

So guess who woke up sick this morning? Me, baby. Me.

I could feel it coming on last night, and I knew there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. That's the worst, I think. When it's in the mail -- and you know it.

So instead of fun, today consisted of me sleeping and resting a lot, and Jon taking care of the baby.

I feel okay, not great -- mostly just run-down. Hopefully, it will be short-lived. Sadly, though, I think Ella is already getting whatever it is. She was starting to get sniffly before bed tonight, and acted like she just didn't feel that great this evening.

I think he's a keeper....

...don't you?

House of Pain

We're all falling apart.

I had a headache for about 3 days straight. That's finally dissipated.

Jon has been having horrible, immobilizing back pain for about 2 weeks. He went to the doctor yesterday, and he has a torn muscle. I don't have personal experience, but I'd say that's not something you'd want to deal with any place in your body, but particularly not in your back. He's on an anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxer, which seems to be giving him some relief.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed Cosmo had a sizable growth on one of his front legs, and he had also developed a sporadic limp. We had the lump removed, and the vet's pretty certain that it's just a fatty growth and is unrelated to the limping (although he has pretty serious hip dysplasia and secondary arthritis in his back end), which is good news. He has a couple of stitches in his leg, though, and even though he's bandaged up, he wouldn't leave it alone and was trying to lick and chew at it. So poor Mo is doomed to the satellite dish for the next 9 days or so, until his stitches come out. He just crashes around, with no concept of how big the radius of his noggin now is. I feel bad for him, but it's sort of hard not to giggle.

I guess we're more or less on the mend, though.

And just for the sake of cuteness....

So little has been going on lately that I couldn't even come up with a title for this particular blog entry.

It's been really cold. I guess compared to the majority of the country, it's not that cold, but my genteel Southern upbringing (ha) doesn't allow me to tolerate these kind of temperatures well. So Ella and I have pretty much just been staying inside and keeping warm. The only time I've been venturing outside these past few days has been to take the dogs out. We've been having to walk them on their leashes because a tree fell on our fence, and there was a gaping hole in it (which Cosmo escaped through back before we went to Charleston...Jon got him back before he went too far though, thank goodness). The hole was fixed this afternoon, though -- hooray!

What else? I've been in a class for work this past week which will allow me to do online chat support. I'm pretty excited about this...I'll be able to work some when Jon isn't here, and I think I'm actually going to like it more than the phone. That finishes up next week.

Ella and I are pretty much over our colds, but we've both still got a bit of a nagging cough that we can't quite kick. Other than that, we're back to normal. Or as normal as it gets around this house.

Our daughter already has good musical taste.

She seems to have a real liking for The Decembrists. Every time I put them on, she calms right down and listens to them. They are fantastic, though, so who can blame her? (By the way, if you haven't heard their album The Crane Wife, you are seriously missing out.)

I totally forgot to mention it, but this past Wednesday was our 3rd anniversary (insert obligatory "awwwww" here). We've been in such a whirlwind lately, we both didn't even get a chance to say "happy anniversary" to each other till 12:06 AM the day after. We did go to a really nice dinner out at Fleming's while Mom and Dad watched Ella for us. I was going to scan in a few photos from our wedding, but my scanner doesn't want to work for some reason.

Yesterday we went to Raleigh for a big family gathering at my aunt and uncle's house. My cousin and her 2 kids were in from Denver, and another aunt was in from NJ, so it was nice to have Ella meet some more new relatives. She did really well around so many people, too.

Some more big news coming up later next week...I can't say anything yet, but I'll just keep you in suspense....

And just because I'm usually behind the camera, here's a shot of Ella and me, courtesy of the iMac:

Back home.

Jon and I had a great time in Asheville. We did a lot of relaxing, had some good meals, went to Biltmore (Jon had never been), went gem mining (woohoo!) and drove up to Grandfather Mountain also (neither of us had ever been). We missed the little girl, but we knew she was in good hands with Grandma and Pop...we did call to check on her a time or two, though :)

Here are a few photos from the trip. If you'd like to see more, check out my flickr.

Ella's 2 month stats

-Weight: 11 lb 12 oz (75th percentile)
-Length: 24" (90th percentile)
-Head circumference: 16 1/4" (90th percentile)

I was not looking forward to today's appointment, because today was Shot Day...3 needles and some oral medication as well. Honestly, though, she did great. She cried when the nurse stuck her, and for about 30 seconds afterward, and then she was fine...what a trooper. I think I took it worse than she did! The doc did say if she ran a little fever or seemed sore in her legs, we could give her some infant Tylenol, so we picked some of that up on the way home.

Jon went to the doctor himself this morning. He's been having terrible headaches lately, which I suspected were actually migraines, and the doc confirmed the same. He got a prescription for Imitrex, so I hope that gives him some relief. I hate seeing him feel so crummy.

Jon and I are off to Asheville tomorrow! It's the first trip we've been on since February...we've never gone that long between trips, but we had a good excuse :) We're really looking forward to it. Ella will be staying with Grandma and Pop, and they're really looking forward to that, so everyone's happy!

A potential disaster

So most of the people that read this blog know that Jon and I work at the same place. Before I went out on maternity leave, we both knew that there was going to be a schedule bid coming up. I was planning on coming back part-time, and at the time I went out, it wasn't going to be an issue for me to make that request before I came back and do an adjustment to have my schedule aligned with Jon's so that we didn't have any child care issues.

Well, fast forward 2 months. They have pushed the time frame for the bid back twice, and along with that, they have put a hold on doing any schedule adjustments, including switching anyone to part-time, until January. Additionally, Jon had been told, due to his performance, that he would be able to write his own schedule, which would make it easier for us to have our schedules align...now he's going to have to bid with everyone else, and just get what he gets, which could be any shift, any days.

So we're stuck with almost 3 months of me having to stay full-time, and no child care option for that time frame, and potentially no feasible options after that.

The only reason I know about any of this is b/c Jon has been keeping me informed. If he didn't work there as well, I would just be blindsided with all this when I went back.

I could look for something else, but nothing else around here will come close in pay, and I would likely not have benefits working part-time elsewhere... I would get to keep all my benefits/vacation time, etc.

I'm at a loss. I am going to call and talk to my boss tomorrow, but I doubt they'll make an exception for me.