1/2 ~ My parents drove us both up today, and will be staying for a couple of days. LONG day - left NC 12:45 right before snow hit and it took 10 hours to drive home. Mainly because we had 1 hour for supper at Shoney's, and another 45 min to go 10 miles on I-81. NOT fun. :-( We arrived about 10:15pm at home. Whew!
1/4 ~ My parents left to go back home; Michael's parents came for our regular Friday night get-together. And Jimmy showed up for a quick visit. Full day today! Grandma and Granddad Jones both noted how much little girl has grown in the 2 weeks since they've seen her. Plus she's getting heavy!
1/5 ~ Jimmy left to go home; our new washer and dryer showed up! Hubby bought white and not cream, but that's ok. I wasn't able to tell him the color beforehand. We ended up having to shut off all the water to the upstairs neighbors as well, because our pressure caused the washer's hose not to shut completely off. We were a bit afraid of them flooding our new bedroom carpet, going through the bedroom in order to take out the old, and install the new. But, other than just a bit of water, it wasn't so bad after all. :-) Woke up the baby, poor dear. [Plus woke me up from my all-too-short nap!] She, lucky thing, has been trying to get back to sleep and might have succeeded too. I turned on her CD and it's helped.
1/6 ~ Snow! Postponed a get-together with Phil.
1/8 ~ Back to work at AVSP. Working 1 hour, 2 classes [30 min each] Level 3 at 7, Level 5/6 at 7:30. I think I have 6 ADD students [out of 9] in that last class! *sigh*
1/18 ~ Doctor appointment for check-up of depression. Will need to go through red tape from insurance purposes to continue getting medicine.
1/23 ~ Dentist appointment. No new cavities, but will need to fix up front tooth. :-( Going to do that in May, I think.
1/24 ~ I started doing private lessons before the regular classes, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. Work is pushing for more and more to do, plus talk is about to work more classes. Gearing up for Spring Sessions, when classes overflow.
1/25 ~ Regular parents visit. Mom Jones had been sick last week, and they didn't show.
1/26 ~ I now have what Mom had. Ugh. The flu, with the head and the general unwell feeling. She'd been diagnosed with sinus infection though.
1/28 ~ Doctor gave prescription for antibiotics for when flu runs out and sinus infection kicks in. Can't do anything but lay in bed and drink. Not wanting to eat. Feeling too bad to take care of Nessa, so parents came back up to take care of her.
1/29 ~ Too sick for work. Ashley subbed for me! yeah! *sigh, goes to crawl back into bed*
1/31 ~ Really, still coughing and too sick, but last day of classes and had to be there. Afterwards came home, crawled back into bed. Coughing now so hard and so long, staying awake at night. Got high powered cough meds to try to not hurt my muscles anymore. At one time or another I've pulled stomach muscle [both sides], and 3 different places on my back. Ugh.
2/5 ~ Nessa been coughing and generally acting unwell, but tonight she's burning up with fever [101.4] after throwing up rather a lot. Took her to the ER. About 30 min after I took her temp, the nurse took it at 102. Gave her a LOT of Tylenol, and we waited about 2 hours before going back. After the Tylenol kicked in, Nessa wanted to PLAY, PLAY, PLAY - sick? are you kidding?! The doctor did a urine sample, X-Ray, and blood sample. It came back as a flu - gee, did she get it from me? We came home about 2 in the morning - poor girl was exhausted! They had to make sure she could drink a little bit before she left, and keep it down.
2/6 ~ Got a call from our doctor's office today - the X-Ray from last night showed a dark area on her lung. Pneumonia! He wasn't really able to hear it, but we are on a round of antibiotics for her. Poor girl is sick!
2/14 ~ Pool closed, which is good, cause I'm sick again. *sigh*
2/18 ~ We've been careful with Nessa, making sure she's not in the cold or anything. Today's X-Ray revealed no more spot, so she's pronounced cured! She'd been crawling all around for a week, but it's still nice to know.
2/21 ~ Unfortunately, I am still sick! Or rather, I'm sick again. I can't seem to shake this flu.
2/25 ~ Doctor appointment to get Nessa's tongue clipped. Setting up times, dates, signing papers, that sort of thing. Nervous!
3/1 ~ Getting some professional help in trying to organize my life so I can accomplish things! This is from Dixie, who does the SOS company. It sure does help!
3/2 ~ Cheri and Milt came down to WV, but I'm working on Sat mornings now teaching. We went up after I got off work, and today was the day Nessa took her first step! I was recording a little bit, and then she took her step, right before the tape ran out! I was nervous I missed that step until I saw that tape! Cheri got some good tape of Nessa walking by herself. ;-) I can't wait to see it!
3/6 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Well, the night before last we got Nessa to bed around 8pm and she slept straight through the night. That was great. She woke up starved. But that was to be expected. Unfortunately, she slept so well she never went down for a nap all day yesterday. By the time I got home she was too tired to rest. I finally got her down for sleep around 6:30. She was back up at 7:30, hungry. So I fed her and tried to put her back to bed. (...to crib? That just doesn't right.) I spent the rest of the evening holding her until she was ready for bed, putting her in her crib, and having her wake up again 5 minutes later. It was a rough evening. I gave her over to Lisa when she got home from work and I went to bed. I never heard nuffin' after that.
3/7 ~ Again, another appointment with Dixie. I don't feel so overwhelmed now in trying to do things, and I do have "extra" time to myself. [no naps though... hm...] Michael received news that in April sometime he'll have to look for a new job in IBM.
3/7 [Michael's Daily Report]: Well, Lisa had a rough day with Nessa yesterday. Nessa got her morning nap but refused anymore naps. By the time I got home, both girls were a little frazzled. Lisa's coughing has finally subsided. They drove me over to my eye-exam. They are going to remake my glasses as full-time glasses instead of just reading glasses. I got Nessa to bed around 8 last night. She slept good until 11 (Lisa tells me; I slept straight thru the night). Lisa was up with her for about an hour. After that, I assume she slept straight on thru 'til this morning.
3/8 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Nessa got to bed around 8:30 last night and slept until 2:45 this morning. Lisa got up with her and was back in bed in fairly short order. [The fact is, I'm still not getting enough sleep!]Lisa and I are going to supper tonight. We got a baby-sitter for Nessa. This will be our first dinner out together without Short-Stuff in a very long time. I bet we spend the entire time talking about her.
3/9 ~ Annual Birthday party with Knopps. It was fun; we played Keys to the Kingdom, a rather fun game for younger players. I had to work that morning, so we got together for lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. That afternoon Jan and I went shopping at Toys Go Round, and I bought Nessa her "Lego Castle" for her birthday. So excited!
3/11 ~ Michael's 34th birthday! His parents came down, and we all went out to Applebees. [thanks parents for paying!] Nessa got a yellow balloon, so she was happy. She loves those balloons!
3/11 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Jimmy stopped by around 8:30 for the night. He stayed the better part of Sunday with us. We had a really nice visit as we always do. On Sunday, I installed a doorbell for Lisa. It seems she had a visitor this week that spent 5-10 minutes beating on the door because Lisa was in the dungeon and couldn't hear her. This will prevent future reruns of that.
Nessa is still going to bed earlier and refusing to nap during the day. She is eating like a little horse again. That's always a good sign. And, in case anyone forgot, her b-day is this Wednesday (Wed-Nessa-Day) 3/13.
3/12 ~ Michael brought Nessa down to show her off to my co-workers at AVSP. :-) Everyone thought she was cute! She, of course, being overwhelmed at the noise and the people, just went quiet and stared at everyone. She didn't even smile at Mommy. Maybe she didn't recognize me in my wet bathing suit and swim cap. Michael's last day with AT&T has been set at May 1.
3/13 ~ Nessa's 1st birthday! At least I had a day of rest between .. LOL! Granddad and Grandma came down, as well as Aunt Betty. Everyone had a ball, and Nessa got her 2 naps in! Not only did we go out to eat at Applebees again - Nessa ate some french fries as well as got a blue balloon - but Nessa also had balloons for just her. :-) Red, pink, and gold. Her birthday cake had Mickey flying in a plane, with a fence rail close by, on top of a green field. Yep - GREEN. Grandma had ordered the cake with white and pink edging, and it came back green on top. I'm thankful they spelled her name right. We all had a grand time with the presents, balloons, and cake. Yes, Nessa ate some cake all by herself, but not much and it only got on the end of her nose. ;-) Believe me, I recorded that on the video tape!
3/14 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: For Lisa, [today] was a constant AAARRRGGGHHH! as Nessa drove her mother steadily insane. By the time I got home, Lisa was denying that she ever had a baby and claiming that the small girl-child crawling around the floor was either an illusion or a spirit. Lisa had to work last night so I got to baby-sit the illu... I mean Nessa. Strange, she didn't give me half that amount of trouble. Oh, well. Lisa works tonight and tomorrow. Her boss's g'mother passed away this week. So, the boss told Lisa to cover for her. I'm planning to take Nessa up to WV Saturday to visit with the family.
3/15 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Microsoft Outlook (Lisa's e-mail program) quit on me Friday night and I can't find my CD to reinstall it. I have her running on Outlook Express until I can borrow a copy from someone.
I promised to work Registration as Assistant. It was wonderful to work - like old times! - and yet the work was exhausting as always. Took 30 min off for supper. I was very thankful Michael offered to come home early and take care of Nessa. I was able then to work the afternoon getting ready. It still was a close call as to whether all the work would get done on time! Of course, TONIGHT Nessa would pick to not sleep well ... I'm so short of sleep ... zzzz
3/16 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Saturday, I went up to WV with Nessa to have breakfast with the Laidlows and visit with the Jones. Lisa and Theresa were scheduled to work from 10AM 'til 1PM. A couple other folks were going to finish registration (1PM - 2PM). So, I delay getting home until about 3:30PM to give Lisa time to get a nap and be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when I get home. When I got home, Lisa was dead-eyed and bristly-tailed. Here's why.
From 10 'til noon things were tolerable. But at noon, the non-members begin registration. There were over 60 of them in line waiting at noon. Of course, this means no lunch for anyone. Lisa and Theresa had two others helping them, one who had never worked registration before and one who also had the walking-death-cold/flu thingy. Before any of them could look up from working, it was 1:30. Theresa screams since she was supposed to be at a meeting elsewhere right at 1:30. She leaves. Mr. Death-warmed-over requests to leave also. Lisa agrees since she still has one person left and if she didn't, he probably would have breathed on her. Lisa began wrapping up registration while the other person finished up a few remaining people. At 2PM straight-up, the other girl says, "Well, my shift is over. Bye!" and out the door she goes. This leaves Lisa with all the paperwork and putting away the chairs and tables used during registration. Lisa got home at 3:25PM. Remember, I got home at 3:30PM.
Now, together and both irritated at Lisa's work, we decided to go out for Mexican food. Actually, I decided. Lisa was too brain-dead to make decisions. We ate. We went home. We got everyone into bed early.
3/17 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Sunday was spent recovering from all of that. In addition, I cared for Nessa and gave Lisa time to dig through several piles of mail. It's amazing the interesting things you can find in several-weeks old mail.
3/18 ~ Nessa's 1 year checkup was yesterday. Healthy, fine baby girl who may be a little bit behind developmentally. That may also be because we haven't worked with her on different things, such as drinking from a cup. They checked her for anemia with a drop of blood. It came back negative; however, it took longer to stop bleeding than what it should.
[Michael's Daily Report]: The doctor warned us that the idea of variety in Nessa's diet has now gone out the window. She will probably settle on one food for a week or so and turn away everything else. Then, she will change her mind and like something else for a while. Sheesh, one year old and this girl already knows woman's prerogative. In other news, IBM informed their employees of the 2002 standards for pay-raises. In short, if you have walked on water consistently for IBM and they are currently paying you less than an organ-grinder pays his monkey, you might get a pay raise. Otherwise...
3/20 ~ Up until the wee hours of 21st, staying up with Nessa. Balancing the checkbook and ignoring the girl. I figure she'll get tired and go to sleep that way faster. If she did, she sure didn't show it - went to sleep before 2, anyway.
3/22 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: First, Annessa is officially a toddler! Yea! Lisa brought her home yesterday and was just dying to see me. She set Nessa down and told her to walk to Daddy (that's me!). And Nessa just walked right over to me with no help. I gave her a big squeeze. Then I turned her around and she walked right back to Lisa. She still isn't completely stable on her feet. However, she seem to be willing to try anytime she is asked. Second, IBM may have a job lined up for me. With the big contract just signed between IBM and Nextel, they need people here in Herndon quickly. There is a job opening that they are having trouble filling. Now, exactly why they think I fit this role I will never know. I am not a PM and my database knowledge is limited. However, I am good at process improvement. So, my uncle boss sent in my resume. He thinks I might get the job just because IBM has no one else. Great... If I do get the job and do well in it, there is the potential to stay with it for quite some time. There is also the potential for a promotion. Today, we are getting ready to goto NC. We have all that wonderful packing to do as well as a half-dozen odd jobs that need to be completed before we leave.
3/25 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Lisa, Nessa, and I drove to NC on Saturday. We got out of the house around 10:30, so proud of ourselves for getting everything loaded and going. Of course, we were already in NC when we discovered that we left the toiletries bag back in Leesburg. This will be the third time in a row I have to mail Lisa's prescriptions to her. I think I'll duct tape them to her next time. Ted and Vee had set up their front room as a temporary nursery for Nessa. It will work great. Nessa just loved showing-off how she can toddle for her grandparents.
Michael drove home Sunday. Lisa and crew went to church and then went over to visit with Nessa's great g'parents. Sunday afternoon Nessa was fussy, for she missed her morning nap. Took a short afternoon nap, not enough, for Mommy had to wake her to keep her on schedule. Only the later afternoon nap never happened, for visiting purposes. Sunday night was wonderful! I saw "Experiencing God: The Musical" which Nessa was able to sit through the first 3 songs before she wanted some food. Nana took her back to the nursery, and no nap then either. Late to bed Sunday night.
3/25 ~ Monday was catch-up sleep day. Nessa took a long nap in the morning, plus afternoon nap. Mommy took a long nap in morning that lasted until Nessa's afternoon nap, but Mommy never completely got rested. Monday afternoon was spent in walking back and forth - baby walked a "baby mile" just practicing. She fell some. Thankfully she didn't really get hurt on anything - Mommy caught her before she hit the sharp corner of the TV stand. Baby also fell off bed; it was a controled fall, but it still hurt.
Nessa also had a "picnic" where Mommy fed her on the steps outside. Nessa seems to love the outside and tends to walk to whomever is holding her hand over to the door to go out. She wants to hold both hands when
walking over the uneven ground, but knows enough to pick up her feet when told to do so. :-)
Monday night went over to the Nettles for Nessa's bathtime. Came back when she was screaming - she was HUNGRY! After we fed her, Nessa was awake and so she got to bed late once again. [about 11]
3/26 ~ Michael did some touch-up painting in his office. When I got back from NC, I saw it really looks great! Tuesday we knew we had to get out of the house so Nana could study for her final exam. Nana can't study while playing with baby, you see. So Granddaddy and Mommy and Nessa went to see Maw Maw and Paw Paw. Nessa warmed up to Maw Maw today. She didn't cower back like she did on Sunday. AND she did her walking exersise to Maw Maw and back to Mommy. For some reason she doesn't walk to Granddaddy, and she is still afraid of Paw Paw. Since she desperately needed an afternoon nap and Mommy lost it emotionally with baby, Paw Paw ended up trying to calm screaming baby down while Mommy went to cry in the bathroom for 15 min. Afterwards Granddaddy drove Mommy and Nessa home while Nessa and Mommy was able to get a bit of sleep. Nessa's bottom hurts while changing diapers, so back to the Nettles for another bath. This time, however, she accidently pooped in her bathwater and the resulting mess left her screaming once again. Thankfully she went down to sleep a little after 7:30 - hoping she will sleep throughout the night.
4/29 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Well, this weekend certainly did not go as planned. Planned: Michael cleans house while Lisa goes to work. Actual: My parents have to baby-sit Nessa AND I while Lisa goes to work because I woke up Saturday with a first rate sinus attack.
I usually don't get massive sinus attacks. Runny nose is usually it for me. This weekend I got the sore throat from drainage and the "Please put me out of my misery" sinus headache. Lisa, the expert in dealing with sinuses, told me to keep ice on my head and take Tylenol sinus. By 3PM, I was feeling much better.
Sunday I spent doing laundry and trying to catch up from being down all day Saturday. Lisa held a virtual bridal shower for her good friend Similyn who is getting married very soon. I had a nice long chat with Phil. I even got a chance to talk to Jimmy, Lisa's brother.
4/30 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Nessa has learned how to tell her parents when she is hungry. She toddles over to her food cabinet, pick out what she wants to eat and brings it to one of us. Make that "so what's for supper" question easy. About 60% of the time, she wants a snack. The rest of the time, she brings us a dinner and a vegie or fruit. And, yes, I do believe she recognizes the pictures on the jars
and knows whether she likes it or not.
I'm planning to do some home repairs this weekend. There is some paint peeling over the shower in the master bathroom that needs touched up. I still need to file down that sharp point on Nessa's bed. You know, the one that torn a hole in my best blue jeans. That kind of stuff.
5/1 ~ Michael got his hair cut. It's rather short now, and looks good, but he hates it because he was forced into it because of this job hunt. He's had several meetings with his councilor and is working out all the kinks from his resume and all the job hunting skills he needs. Plus he's having to deal with all the paperwork for losing this job. Things such as 401K plan, life insurance, medical insurance. Not fun.
[Michael's Daily Report]: Lisa is working like a dog to make up some for my soon to be lost income. She now has 1 morning and 3 evening classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 morning classes on Saturdays, 3 evening private lessons on Wednesdays, and 1 on Friday nights. She might be getting a 4th evening class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Lisa's boss also asked if she would like to take the 5:30AM to 8AM lifeguarding shift while I'm out of work. Let's see... Lisa works at AVSP Tuesday through Friday nights. Regardless of when her classes end, she can't seem to get home before 9:45PM. Then it takes her until 11PM to settle down and get ready for bed. Now, if she had to get up at 5AM to go back to work, I'd have a dead wife on my hands in 1 week or less. The answer is no.
And Nessa is blissfully unaware of all the crap going on around her. She toddles around the house making the sound of a motorboat (Brrrrrrrrrrr!). She runs to her food cabinet and tells us when she is hungry or wants a snack. She is even starting to tell us when she is getting tired and wants a nap. But you really have to be paying attention to read that one.
5/2 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Nessa seems to be developing her own language. It's a cross between baby gibberings and English. Of course, I think a lot of people speak that same language. Here's the start of her lexicon.
Lisa had her private lessons last night. She has a student I would like to mention. She is a woman who Lisa describes as "the
perfect student." Lisa shows her what to do, she tries it, she asks what she did wrong and is ready to try again. She even practices. Lisa thinks this woman is keeping her from burning out on all the less-than-perfect students she has.
Bood (b-long u-d) - food or "Feed me!"
Boo (b-short u) - book or "Please read to me so I can get ready for bed because I'm getting tired but don't want to admit it."
Bir (b-er) - bird or "That's not a duck, Mom. That's a bird."
Dah (d-short a) - Dad or "Boy are you silly!"
Nana (n-short a-n-short a) - "I want something and you just don't understand but if my grandmother Miller (Nana) was here she would understand and she would give it to me with no questions asked so get her up here right away; oh never mind, I was just distracted by a bright, shiny object."
5/3 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Nessa added a new word to her language yesterday: boot. I have no idea what it means. The closest I can figure is it means something like "What do you call this?" or "How do you say...?"
Lisa worked like a dog yesterday. Swim class from 9 to 9:30. Home for naps. Up for lunch, Nessa's not hers. Boss calls and asks if she can come back to do some phone calling. Back to AVSP from 2:15 - 3:15. Home so Nessa can get nap. Lisa continues phone calling and reslotting students into appropriate classes. Supper at 5:30. Back to AVSP to finish paperwork at 6:15. Swim classes from 6:30 - 8. Private lesson from 8 - 8:30. More paperwork til 9:15. Home by 9:30. Bed by 10.
5/6 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Our weekend was good. Lots of stuff to tell you. I finally got the wall in our master bathroom shower fixed. The water damage we took from our upstairs neighbor's leaky water heater was fixed long ago. Unfortunately I didn't fix it good enough and it became unfixed. So, I plastered it up and repainted it again.
Looks like Lisa will be picking up another private le$$on soon. Think of it as a replacement for the one that started and ended Thursday night. The fellow was so good and learned so fast,
after one lesson with Lisa they decided he had what he wanted and didn't need anymore lessons for now.
Nessa is doing even better feeding herself. This weekend, we gave her a big bowl of mashed potatoes and let her have at it herself. She finished the bowl with almost no help from us. In fact, what little help we gave was definitely *unwelcomed*.
Lisa went to a class yesterday called "Walk through the Bible". I took a similar class when I was in high school. We called it "Bible Calisthenics". It teaches you a key word or two and/or a physical motion to help you remember each and every book of the Bible. Lisa said the leader was wonderful and funny. She says that she learned a lot about the Bible she didn't know. That is saying something coming from a PK.
I think Nessa has finally caught on to the idea of sleeping through the night. She has managed to do so for the past three nights straight. Before that, she usually got up at least once for a snack and diaper change. Looks like we have passed another milestone.
I finally got the roll of film from Nessa's first birthday party finished and developed. We got some really good pics! I should be able to finish Nessa's first year picture frame now and I think I have one good enough for another 5x7 for the g'parents.
5/15 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Lisa and I had dentist appointments this morning. OBTW, our teeth are fine.
Yesterday was wild. Lisa went to work in the morning and I watched Nessa. When Lisa got home, we ran out to Staples and bought a new printer so I can print up my resumes and such. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch. Then we ran over to Wal-mart to buy Lisa her Mother's Day present, an automatic can-opener. Yeah, I know. What kind of person gives a woman a can-opener for a gift. Well, that's what she wanted and asked for. And, she
was thrilled. We also got Nessa a new diaper bag. Her old one was
too small and falling apart at the seams.
Lisa's boss was sick yesterday and Lisa volunteered to teach her afternoon classes for her. So back to AVSP she went at 1. She got home around 3, ate a bite and went to bed for a nap.
During all of this, I set up the new printer and got my resumes printed out real nice. I had planned to mail several of them to a friend of Lisa's who has friends in the IT biz. So, Nessa and I ran out to the post office. On the way back, we got caught in a flash thunder storm. It went from nothing to driving rain and high winds in less than 1 minute. The wind was blowing road dirt around like a sand storm. It also picked up a half dozen road construction barrels and blew them down the street in front of our car. We got home alright. Cable was out. And the computer was in the process of re-booting. Power-outage I
assume. Unfortunately, the abrupt shutdown of the computer has knocked out Outlook, Lisa's e-mail program, yet again. Lisa slept through the whole thing.
Lisa ran off to work last night and got to come home early. It seems the storm had taken out a transformer near AVSP and the power there flickered twice before going completely out. So, classes were cancelled.
Imagine trying to get dressed in a completely dark locker room. Nope, I couldn't do it either, so when the flashlight passed my direction I just grabbed my clothes and got back out to the pool deck. At least there we had windows to the outside and some light to see with. Of course, being open like that, I could only get my clothes over my wet bathing suit. Then back through the dark locker room and through the dimly lit Pavilion where a flashlight was waving back and forth to guide everyone out. Seems that the fire alarms were going off, and we had to evacuate. Can't do anything in a dark building anyway.
Nessa tried some brocoli for me again tonight. She ate a few bites of it plain but didn't really like it. I was eating a mixture of rice and brocoli and Nessa asked to try that. (Points to my plate. "Dat!") She ate the entire plate and then some. On top of that, she had a jar of peaches for dessert. I think the phrase of the week is "growth spurt". We spent the rest of the night watching TV.
5/17 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Nessa is doing fine. Her sleep schedule is pretty good right now. She is again eating like a little horse. We spent some time yesterday sitting under the shade trees in our back yard. She was fascinated by
everything going on around us.
Lisa is still lovin' her classes and private lessons. She has been substituting for the rest of the teachers as needed. Everyone knows that she needs the money. There is one drawback. Parents are so happy to see her, they are trying to come up with reasons for the regular teacher to need a substitute. ("Watch your step!" *Trip* *Splat!* "Oh, that must have hurt. Should I call Ms. Lisa to sub for you?" *grin*)
Phil is coming over around noon today. Hopefully he will keep my mind gainfully occupied for the afternoon.
5/18 ~ Last Saturday Classes until the Fall. Busy Day!
5/19 ~ Lunch with Joneses in WV. This is to make-up for the Mother's Day lunch.
5/20 ~ [MIchael's Daily Report]: Friday:
Got Boo serviced. No problems.
Phil came over in the afternoon. We had a good time talking about gaming, work, and why we didn't get together more often.
Lisa went to work Friday night only to find that the pool was closed. It seems someone got a bloody nose in the pool. Health Risk!!! Would have been nice if someone would have called. :-/
Saturday:
Lisa worked in the morning, slept in the afternoon, and played "Scare the Baby" in the evening. I did as little as possible (laundry, bathroom, dishes, etc.)
Sunday:
Went to see Joneses and Aunt Betty in WV for a much belated Mother's Day. They were glad to see Nessa... and us too... I think... Yeah, us too.
One last note (insisted upon by the wife looking over my shoulder), Nessa learned about Cheerios this weekend. She also learned how to do a squirrel imitation with Cheerios. She jams as many into her mouth as her little cheeks will hold and then wonders why she can't chew.
5/21 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Yesterday went by for me so fast. I dropped off Boo to have the hail damage repaired. Got home and worked on job-hunting for a while. Got my shower. Talked to Phil on the phone. Then I headed off for a meeting. Got home and ate lunch. Worked on job-hunter for a while longer. And then it was 5PM. Boom.
I did have one good but strange thing happen. I was looking at a job site that had the typical "Click here to contact us" button on it. I forgot that our default mailer, Outlook, wasn't working so I clicked on the button. As soon as I did, I remembered our Outlook problems and got ready to kill the process when it froze. But it didn't freeze. In fact, Outlook has been starting and running fine ever since.
I guess that starting Outlook by means other than simply launching the program circumvented whatever was wrong with the program. Then by exiting Outlook correctly, instead of having a freak wind storm knocking out the power and crashing the program, the fix was made permanent. So, we have Outlook again.
Lisa and Nessa took a walk yesterday. Nessa decided to go treasure hunting. She found 2! One was a small stick that had dried vines grown around it. She was fascinated. The other was the ring part of one of the candy rings. You know, that part that is left after you eat all the candy. Of course, being a toddler, Nessa had to analyze her new found treasures using the most scientific methods available to her: she put them in her mouth. (Yuck! Spit! Spit! Spit! Pewey!)
5/22 ~ Had my make-up class this morning. Considering that I ended up calling all parents [there were only 3] on average of about 4 times, and rearranging everyone's schedule only 5 times, it's a wonder we actually had the class!
[Michael's Daily Report]: Well, I think I did a bunch of things yesterday. But it feels like I got nothing done. I took care of Nesaa until Lisa got back from working in the morning. I got my shower and had just enough time to see how much I couldn't get done before my Noon luncheon. Had lunch with Dixie Sanner as a networking meeting. She gave me a couple good contacts for job hunting. Then it was off to the unemployment office for the rest of the day. Got home just in time to eat before Lisa ran off to work again. Like I said, I did alot but got little accomplished.
I have no idea what Lisa and Nessa did because I never really had a chance to talk to them yesterday. Well, I had plenty of time to talk to Nesaa but she is always skimpy on the details.
Lisa has a make-up class this morning and is already at AVSP working. She had to reschedule it three times yesterday before it was settled. Still, one of the parents showed up at 8:30 this morning instead of 9 because she missed the last answering machine message.
5/23~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Well, yesterday the universe made up for the day before. I got so much accomplished yesterday. I took Ceti to be inspected. No line. Had just enough time to fill in a bunch of paperwork before the car was done. And the entire day was like that. Beautiful. I found 3 jobs worth applying to. Found a some great leads on other potentials.
Lisa isn't doing so good today. No, she isn't sick. She's sick and tired... of teaching. She is starting to burn out on teaching. All the teachers at AVSP seem to hit it once a season. Must be the place. Today, Lisa has her 9AM class. But then she is substituting for Patty and teaching another 3 classes. She was thinking about calling in dead this morning.
Nessa is doing well. She is feeding herself breakfast while I type this. I just need to keep refilling the bowl. And speaking of which... brb. I heard spoon on bowl bottom. :-)
And now the obligatory downer for the end of my e-mail. My Mom called yesterday to tell me that my Uncle Turk died on Tuesday. He was at the point that he could not eat or drink on his own. Mom and Dad visited him on Monday and he never woke up the entire time they were there. While we will all miss him very much, he was not going to get any better and it really was a blessing for him to be released from that state.
5/24~ [MIchael's Daily Report]: Well, yesterday was just plan weird. Lisa had to work from 9 'til 11. I watch after Nessa. I think she has decided that she is through with morning naps. All this week, she has gone down for her morning nap but spent the entire time sitting in her crib playing. Lisa comes home and we eat lunch. Then I get to work.
While I worked, Lisa and Nessa played in the backyard. OK, we live in a condo so we technically don't have a backyard. We have a grassy common area adjacent to our patio. That said... our backyard. And played may have been too strong a word as well. Lisa sat on the grass working on her paperwork while Nessa confirmed to herself that she can walk unassisted on grass.
The next big item of the day was Lisa heading back to work. Her boss called around 4 and asked if Lisa would Lifeguard for 30 minutes so the regular Lifeguard could eat supper. No biggie. Except that of course everything tried to fall apart while I was lifeguarding. *sigh*
Nessa and I worked on cleaning up the bedroom while Lisa was at work. Then I got Nessa to bed. Talked to Phil on the vid-phone. And Lisa came home and told me all about work. I may be unemployed but at least I don't work Lisa's job. I tried NOT to get caught in between all the policies, even though for some reason everyone still looks to me to fix things! *another sigh* After lifeguarding, I taught make-up classes, and after THAT came working Registration. I just need to clone myself a few times to get everything done on time!
5/25 ~ Registration Weekend! Got to work most of today, and got home to relax .. er.. collapse.
[MIchael's Daily Report]: We have had such fun and full two days (Friday and Saturday) that I just had to send out a special edition tonight before I forgot it all.
Yesterday, Lisa was home during the day so I got a good chance to chase jobs. I had enough time to take a full lunch break. Lisa, Nessa, & I sat out under the shade trees and had a picnic for lunch. Nessa had tomato soup and ended up almost wearing as much as she ate.
Lisa had to teach 3 make-up classes, 3 private le$$ons and, assist with 3 hours of registration all at the same time Friday night. Hey, she's good but she ain't that good. The private le$$ons got cancelled :-( and the registration did without her until the make-up classes were over. She got home around 10pm.
This morning, Lisa was back at AVSP for 5 more hours of registration. She had 3 or more parents panicky that they might not get into her classes. One mother all but did cart-wheels after she got her child in "Miss Lisa's" class.
While Lisa was at AVSP, I cleaned house. Vacuumed before she left. Cleaned the kitchen. Chase Nessa around the living room. Scrub the oven drip pans. Chase Nessa around the backyard. Wash the bathroom sinks. Chase Nessa around the bedroom. Wash the bath tub. Chase Nessa up and down the hall. Start to clean the toilets and realize that Nessa is at splash level. Yuck! Put Nessa in crib for safe keeping. Clean the toilets. Get Nessa out of the crib. Then we had lunch and Nessa took a nap.
Lisa got home around 3pm just as Nessa was getting up. After the obligatory 2 hour blither session, the 3 of us went down to the pool. The water is 70 degrees. Can you say "Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Nessa put on her itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow fish patterned bikini. She was so cute. All the girls huddled around Lisa just to see the baby. Nessa even stood in the water on the first step for a while. She was ready for the next step but Mama and Daddy weren't. So, we all came home.
We just finished supper. Tonight for a change of pace, Nessa was feeding Lisa instead of the other way around.
5/27 ~ Yes, it's Memorial Day, but I still worked Registration anyway since both Jennifer AND Teresa were unavailable. Hey, it's hours!
5/28 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: The three of us went to church on Sunday. It had been a while. Since Nessa is trying to give up her morning naps, we thought we might try it again. Nessa did OK in the nursery. Lisa and I survived the service. Nancy Sheffey, minister of fine arts, had a nice sermon on the woman at the well and used a ongoing skit to do it.
Lisa was designated aquatic coordinator for this registration. I think that might be a demotion. Most people at AVSP seem to think of her as Aquatics Queen. She needed to finish some paperwork and phone calling either Sunday or Monday so I suggested that she drive down to AVSP Sunday and get to it. She did. Soon after she left, a storm blew up here in Leesburg. The hail was somewhere between pea and grape-sized. I called Lisa right away and told her to hide out at AVSP until it passed. At least she wouldn't be driving in the stuff. Luckily, the hail ended before getting to Ashburn and our second car was spared the pounding. I wonder if Boo, who is at the body shop getting the hail damage repaired, got more hail damage.
The bad new on the storm almost made me cry. We got water in our bedrooms again. Nessa's room isn't quite as bad as it was the last time but our room is just as bad. I called the management company's emergency number and reported it. I was to be called back with arrangement to have the water cleaned up professionally. I'm still waiting for that call.
We made a quick run to the grocery store Monday morning, the three of us. Then the girls decided to take a nap while I got lunch ready. Lunch was the ever famous burgers and corn on the cob, traditional Memorial Day fare. I was thrilled.
Lisa had to go to work again Monday night to finish coordinating and to do a private le$$on. The work she finished but another storm (a "tycoon" as Lisa called it) blew up. If there is even a single rumble of thunder, the pool is closed for 30 minutes. If that time was cumulative, the pool would be closed until the middle of next week. As it was, Lisa hid out until the storm passed and the work was done and then came home.
5/29~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Would you believe that I almost forgot to write this morning. Lisa, Nessa & I are going down to the AVSP pool this morning to see if Nessa likes swimming. My mind was already in the water. And speaking of water... I called the condo manager yesterday morning about the water damage in our bedroom. Left him a message. Then things started to happen. Guys came by and pulled up the carpet and removed the damaged padding. We now have fans drying the carpet. They will be back in a day or 2 to replace the padding. Another guy showed up to see why the water came in at all. He said the the flashing over the bedroom window was loose. Also, there is a major mud puddle by the corner of our condo. That means the drainage is poor and might be routing the water back under the sump pump.
Michael first asked me what we did yesterday. I replied "I went to work yesterday morning, did Coordinator work, jumped in the water to teach 2 classes, got chewed out for a mistake I did a month ago, came home for lunch and did Coordinator work on the computer, then back to the Pavilion last night to do my classes then too." Four classes at night - ranging levels 5, 4, 3, and 2. Morning Classes are Preschool C/D, and Preschool C. [They range from A-E, with E being the highest.] Lots of work for me this session, and I even have a new private Le$$on if I can just contact them to schedule it.
A word now on Nessa: Michael finally realized she DOES have a vocabulary and knows what she is saying. Yesterday he took her into her bedroom and she looked over at the big fan a bit nervous, and asked, "Dat?" He told her it was a fan, and she seemed happy with that. I've known for some time she asks questions. Most of the time it's either "Dis?" or "Dat?" and I tell her. She's learning by asking!
Another word on her: Her bottom left tooth was joined 2 weeks ago by the top left tooth, followed in a day by her bottom right. Although the bottom right one kept hiding, it finally came through a week ago. Now it's the top right one that is coming through and back in hiding.
5/30~ [Michael's Daily Report]: We took Nessa to the AVSP pool yesterday. She loved it! Took to the water like a fish. OK, a little baby fish who does know how to swim yet. But like a fish. We played on the steps for a while and let her get used to it. Then we got a barbell for her; these barbells float to help kids learn to swim. She grab the barbell, I grabbed her hands so she wouldn't let go, Lisa grabbed her feet, and off we went around the pool, giggling all the way. We were there about 20 minutes when Nessa started shivering and we had to call it quits. So, I got Nessa changed while Lisa swam a few laps (and lost her bikini top once). Afterwards, we all went out to Roy's for lunch to celebrate. To re-enforce it all a little, I gave Nessa play time in the bath tub last night. When she finally hit the crib around 8PM, she was out like a light. I didn't hear anything from her all night. Job hunting about the same.
5/31~ [Michael's Daily Report]: The only real news on yesterday was getting the padding repaired from the water damage. My sister and her husband are coming down for a visit on Saturday. So, I called the company taking care of the water damage and asked if they could do the work. Took about an hour.
Lisa's classes are driving her insane. She has several parents who have deliberately prevented her from moving their children to the classes appropriate to their skills because the new classes "don't fit our schedules." So, Lisa has to teach a class with at least one child that is too un-skilled for the class. I think I'm also driving Lisa insane. But that's another story.
And just for historical purposes... Yesterday marked the official end of the clean-up/search & rescue operation at the World Trade Center "Ground Zero".
6/3 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: This weekend was a lot of visiting. Phil came over and had breakfast with me on Saturday morning. He came back to the house afterwards and chatted with Lisa and Nessa before heading home around 1PM.
My sister Cheri and her Husband Milton came down for a visit along with my parents Saturday around 4PM. We went to IHOP for supper and then back to the house for lots of chatting. Nessa wore herself out trying to entertain 6 adults.
Sunday, Lisa's brother Jimmy called. He and Lisa chatted on the phone for over an hour. No sooner had Lisa hung up with Jimmy but the newlyweds Sim and Nick called from Canada. It seems they had a little trouble getting Sim into the country. After the phone line went dead twice, Lisa got on the computer and chatted with everyone until after 9PM.
I started playing Dungeon Siege this weekend. Lisa and crew have been arguing over and revising the rules for the CATS board, especially the magic system. Nessa went swimming down at our pool both Saturday and Sunday.
6/4 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: The big news on yesterday was Nessa's first swimming lesson. I think she liked it. I know she got a little cold... ("Dah Dee?") ...OK, a lot cold before it was over. If they don't warm up the pool some we will have to get her a cordoroy swimsuit.
We ate lunch at Roy's, making it a real outing for the family. :-) Late night last night - got hooked on a really good book and didn't get to bed until almost 2. Then thought to check on Nessa to make sure she was covered [she does have a tendancy to throw off her covers!] and she woke up! ARGH! So I had to help get her to bed. But then she woke up 45 min later, and I had to AGAIN help her get to sleep! ARGH! This morning, no brains! Migraine! HELP!
6/5 ~ Our 9th Anniversary! *big grin* Today was definately better than yesterday! ugh!
[Michael's Daily Report]: Yesterday was not a good day for Lisa. First, she was late getting to work for her morning classes. Then Lisa was also late for last night's classes. To start with she was just a few minutes late. Then came the red light... and the cop... and the ticket. She called AVSP from her cell phone so they would know why she was late. Of course, Lisa's aide would be there to start the class and everything would be OK until she got there. Hold on the red light story; I'll get back to that.
Meanwhile at AVSP, Lisa's aid had called Friend #1 to substitute for her since she couldn't be there. At the last minute, Friend #1 determined that she couldn't be there either and called Friend #2 to substitute for her. Friend #2 was working his day job and had to con his boss into letting him get off early enough to only be 30 minutes late getting to AVSP. The classes are only 30 minutes long. So, Lisa's first class had no teach at all. The boss pulled in a lifeguard to cover the class until Lisa arrived. Boss is not planning to write-up Lisa since she called in and said she was going to be late. But, the aid and both friends are getting written up. And one is threatening to quit altogether.
Red Light Story: nothing new. You are 3 car lengths from the light when it turns yellow. Do you slam on the brakes and squeal to a stop or do you hit the gas and go through on the red light? Neither will do any harm. But if a cop happens to be sitting right there, both will get you a ticket. Lisa hit the gas trying to be 30 seconds less late to work. It didn't work.
Now the 50 cent question: why is Lisa late to work twice in the same day? Answer: teacher burn-out. Lisa is a victim of this dreaded disease. The cure is simple, take the summer off and let the college students home for vacation do all the teaching. They will burn-out by Fall and you get your old job back. But with me being out of work, Lisa can't do this. We talked last night about this. Lisa is going to talk to her boss and see if she can get other work at AVSP and cut back on the teaching. That should put the disease into remission temporarily.
6/6 ~ [Michael's Daily Report]: Lisa woke up with a bad headache yesterday. We thought it would be wise to call my parents and cancel our plans for the day. However, my parents had already left for Leesburg. So, we didn't cancel after all. They arrived to watch Nessa while Lisa and I went to see Attack of the Clones for our anniversary. We had planned to eat out afterwards but decided to come on home since Nessa would need a nap and my parents would need rescuing. We were right.
Lisa headed for AVSP for her private le$$ons. Then the storm hit. Lisa cancelled her lessons since the pool was closed and came home. I looked at this wonderfully terrible storm as a good test of the leak repairs. We have water in the bedrooms again. I called the condo manager and the home improvement company. Lane from the home improvement company called me right back. That was the first time anyone explained to me what work had actually been done. Now I understand why they thought the leak should have been fixed.
We tried to get Nessa to bed at 8. Then again at 9. Then we went to bed. By 10, Nessa was still awake. The little lady was wired! We had to run her back and forth between us for an hour before we could even think of trying to put her to bed. We got her down again at 11. Then Lisa was wired until 2AM. I slept. Nessa woke up hungry at 3:30AM and had us both up for an hour. Then she woke up for the day at 8 AM this morning and we had to get up.
6/7 ~ Yesterday started off bad for me - migraine headache. Took Excedrin Migraine, and off to work I went. Got to talk with Jennifer [boss] about possibility of cutting back on teaching hours and upping the paperwork hours. I will be in charge of one Registration; the others I will be helping out Teresa, who is really the Assistant. I do feel as if I'm trampling on her, and I don't want to. Teresa is a good friend. But guess which Registration it looks like I'll be in charge of? The very one I wanted NOT to work - when my parents are up!
Nessa stayed home yesterday on the off chance Daddy could get her to sleep. No go. Hyper-baby! Of course, she would follow him around and whine too. Climb in Daddy's lap, climb down from Daddy's lap. Sleepy, not sleepy. By the time I hit the door, he was ready for me to take over!
Afternoon naps - Michael fell asleep on the couch - Nessa was still undecided on what she wanted. Daddy ran out to the grocery store, while Mommy took Nessa down to the pool. With all of the rain/thunderstorms we've been having, I really thought the water would be COLD! However, the sun is VERY hot, and warming the water up quickly. It was 80! We had a good time in the water, and even played "ball" with another little girl and her mother.
Last night another thunderstorm came through; 6:30 class cancelled. Because of a miscommunication, I ran late. Hit the door there at 7:00, when I was to hit the water. So far, every night we've had thunderstorms, or showers. I don't have a rain gauge, so no clue how much water is coming down; however, our bedroom is still wet. The really impressive storms that looks like the trees are going to be blown over are the ones that leak the most. But this problem is really starting to upset Lane, the fellow who is in charge of correcting this. Seems with all the work he's poured into this, it's a challenge to his pride that the rain is still coming in. Tonight is make-up from Tuesday night's thunderstorm. Last night's thunderstorm class will probably be made up next week sometime.