hello, potential employers

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I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but my tech writing job has all but dried up since we moved. I’m still technically employed by [unnamed company], but they haven’t had a writing gig for me since last summer. The problem is, since we’re now in North Carolina, it’s not like I can just swing by the Redmond office at a moment’s notice, like I could when we lived 12 miles away. So most of the writing jobs that they have end up going to people who live locally, which I suppose makes sense.

In the meantime, my relationship with my employer is fine. Great, even. My manager checks in with me every few weeks to see how I’m doing, and to suggest a topic that I might want to study, just in case something arises that’s 100% remote work. He seems to genuinely feel bad that he hasn’t been able to scrounge up an assignment for me lately, which is nice. And sort of reassuring to know that they still want me around, they just haven’t found the right gig for me.

The fact is, though, I need to start bringing in a paycheck. We’re getting by ok right now – I mean, our budget is stretched pretty tight, but who isn’t these days? But we aren’t able to save up anything, so at the rate we’re going, we’ll be renting for the rest of our lives. And we would like to buy a house again someday. Also, if we ever want to have a second baby? Well, kids cost money. And it’d be nice if we could afford a housekeeper every couple of weeks to help me out with the cleaning. It all comes down to the same thing: I need to go find myself one of those job thingies.

To that end, I’m applying for jobs all over the place. I’m not opposed to taking an office job, although I’d prefer a work-from-home scenario, just because it’s easier with the kiddo. But I’ve applied for a couple of freelance writing jobs where the employer is looking for someone with blogging experience. And heck, I have almost six years of that just with this site alone.

The weird thing is? They want the URL of your blog, which is, well, right here. So I had to list this site on a couple of job applications, and I have to say that I’m a little weirded out by that. This site is usually made up of my rambling thoughts that I crank out without a whole lot of editing or tweaking. So I don’t know if anyone will get a true vibe of my writing “style” by reading this website. I’m now wondering if I need to go through my archives and start deleting things, but I doubt I’ll ever do that. It’s a little too paranoid for me.

Anyway, if you’re here because I applied for a job with your organization? Welcome. I hope you’re suitably impressed with what you find on my site. And if you want to pay me to write for you, well, that’s even better.

Introducing…

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Welcome to the world, Austin Truxillo Romaine.

Cat and baby Austin

Oh y’all. He’s so precious. He looks so much like his big sister Elizabeth looked when she was first born. Just adorable, and SO. MUCH. HAIR. The strange part is that I know he’s bigger (by a couple of inches and more than a pound) than Catie was when she was first born, but holding him felt so strange. He’s just so teeny-tiny. It’s like your arms get used to your baby at whatever size they currently are, and you forget what it was like before, when they were so tiny and new.

Don’t get me wrong, it also feels pretty darn great to hold them when they’re this little.

me with baby Austin

It even got Dave and I talking about maybe, possibly ditching the birth control and seeing what happens next. Three years is a pretty good spacing between kids, isn’t it?

Anyway, enough about my stuff. More baby pics over on Tony’s site.

baby boy is a-comin'!

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Catie and I just got home from spending the last couple of hours over at my cousins’ house. Guess why we were there? Because we were taking care of Elizabeth while Cat & Tony went to the hospital to HAVE THEMSELVES A BABY!!!

Cat’s water broke this afternoon, so this baby is definitely on his way out, and it sounds like he’s coming sooner than later. Yay! I’m sending out my little ::easy labor vibes:: all over the place.

Tony’s parents arrived to take care of Elizabeth, so after they got settled in, Catie and I headed home. I can’t wait to go to the hospital tomorrow to meet that brand new baby boy! Whee! So excited!

EDITED TO ADD: Baby boy is here! They’re still undecided on a name (eek!), but he’s a healthy & perfect 7 pounds, 1 ounce. Thank heavens he came a little early, he probably would’ve been a 10+ pounder if he’d gone all the way to 40 weeks. I talked to Cat on the phone, she says he looks just like Elizabeth when she was first born, except not as fat. We’re going to meet him later this morning, and have no fear, there will be lots of pictures!

The Shred, tricycles, etc.

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* I’ve been doing The 30-Day Shred consistently for the past couple of weeks, and I seem to have overdone it at some point. I have wonky knees to begin with (my right knee is worse than my left), so I was trying to be careful. I wore a knee brace on my right leg when I worked out, which I always do when I’m doing any type of strenuous exercise. Even with the brace on, though, my right knee is now all swollen and aching. And my left knee doesn’t hurt exactly, but I can feel it when I walk, which isn’t good – it’s usually a sign that I’m about one workout away from really hurting myself. And you know, I have a two year-old to chase around, I can’t afford to be incapacitated right now.

So, I’m easing off and I’m working out with the Wii Fit (which is a lot of fun, but let’s face it, it’s way easier than The Shred) for the next few days until my knees start to feel “normal” again. I do really enjoy The Shred, though – I love that it totally kicks my butt in such a time-efficient manner – so I look forward to picking it up again soon.

* All of the new behaviors that Catie’s picked up in the past week are blowing my mind. I’ve heard moms talk about how their kids suddenly changed when they turned two, but I don’t think I actually believed it until I saw it firsthand. But while she used to run away laughing when I tried to change her poopy diaper, now she wants me to change her as soon as she poops (“Mommy, help! Stinky!”, complete with a tushie-grab to make sure I understand). I’m starting to think that potty training is in our near future.

And she no longer just says, “Hi, [name].” Now it’s, “Hi, Mommy [or Daddy]! It’s me, Catie!” Oh, that’s a relief. I’m glad you clarified that, or I might’ve gotten you confused with that other blonde two year-old that lives here. So there are some developments that are right on track for her age, and some that are just flat-out random. But luckily, she’s pretty hilarious most of the time, so it makes up for some of the more… er, annoying toddler traits.

Also, my parents got Catie a tricycle for her birthday. She hasn’t figured out the pedals, but luckily we have the one with the parent-height handlebar so I can steer and push while she rides. I’m sure she’ll figure out the pedals eventually, but she has fun with it anyway.

helmet girl

testing out her new tricycle

* Last thing: I got a phone call this morning from my cousin Cat. It sounds like she maybe, possibly, might kinda-sorta be in early labor. She’s full term (37 weeks), but this is a little bit early for baby Jambuca to make his appearance. I’m waiting to hear more, but in the meantime, everybody send her “if this is the real thing, let it be quick & easy, with a happy, healthy mom & baby” vibes. (Boy, that was awfully specific, wasn’t it?)

the "best of the year" video

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Ok, my sister demands it, and I immediately cave and make a damn video montage.


Catie’s 2nd Year from poobou on Vimeo.

I went with Vimeo this time instead of my usual YouTube because of a licensing issue – I really wanted to use that Jason Mraz song (“I’m Yours,” for those of you who haven’t heard it ten gajillion times already). It seems to fit the tone, and Catie loves the song; every time it comes on the car radio (which is, um, basically every time we’re in the car), she kind of bobs her head and tries to sing along. So it was perfect. But apparently the rights are owned by [insert major record company name], and there was some lawsuit between [said record company] and YouTube about copyright infringements, so YouTube flagged my audio file and wouldn’t let me upload the video with any audio. So, hey! Vimeo! That’ll work. Suck it, big corporate music giant.

(And yes, I do feel totally rebellious by violating somebody’s copyright laws somewhere. It’s kind of making me nervous, I’m waiting for the cops to show up at my front door and either arrest me or slap me with some huge fine over a bunch of videos of my kid. But I also feel good about it, like I’m sticking it to The Man somehow. God, I am so pathetic.)

Anyway, hope y’all enjoy the video.

EDITED 4/7/2009: Apparently that corporate music giant found my video after all, and Vimeo removed it. Argh. I’ve hidden the file on my site, so if you want to see it, email me and I’ll send you the link. But I really don’t need to get sued for some stupid copyright infringement b.s., so I’m not posting it here.

two, redux

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It’s official, I give up. I cannot make a video montage because it’s too hard. I can’t pick a song that accurately fits her year, I can’t narrow down which videos are my favorites, and I certainly can’t pick just a few seconds here and there to narrow it down even more. I’m just stuck. Also, the grandparents are waiting for the year-end DVDs that I make for them (a compilation of all the movies I’ve filmed throughout the year), and that’s going to be enough of a time-consuming project for now. Apparently I established a precedent by making DVDs for them last year, so now they’ll be expecting them for each year from now on, for the rest of my life.

Plus, someone apparently sent the child a memo that being two means she needs to kick the behavior issues up a notch. She’s the same as she’s always been, 95% of the time she’s completely hilarious and delightful. But the other 5%… wow. I think there are probably dogs hundreds of miles away whose eardrums have shattered because of my girl’s tantrums.

2 years old - birthday girl
Who, me?

So instead of a montage video, I give you the video we took of Catie’s birthday celebration at home. It was very quiet, just the three of us, but it was fun. (Be warned, it’s kind of a long-ish video, 4 & 1/2 minutes. This is one of those things that’ll probably only interest the grandparents.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPrt10HY8ho

Also, I finally uploaded the video we took of her playing in the snow on Inauguration Day. (This one’s shorter, 2 & 1/2 minutes. And infinitely funnier for all of the cackling with glee she does at the snow.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-TwrTxUDCw

Yesterday, the weather was crummy (windy and rainy), so to let her burn off some energy before naptime, Catie and I went to one of those indoor play spaces. She had a great time.

playing in the toy kitchen

...and then the dinosaurs trampled a poor unsuspecting village

After we played for a while, we met up with my across-the-street neighbor, Kimberly, and her baby, Morgan, for lunch. The girls had a great time playing with (or rather, near) each other, and when we got home, Catie went down for her nap with no trouble. I love it when that happens.

A couple of random vocabulary things she’s said lately that have cracked me up:
1) This afternoon, I noticed that Teenie had barfed on the couch (AGAIN! Cats in their golden years can be a major pain in the you-know-what sometimes). I muttered, “oh dammit,” to myself. Catie looked at me and said, “Wass wrong, Mommy?” That was mind-blowing enough on its own. But then I told her that Teenie had gotten sick on the couch, so she comes over, peers onto the sofa to inspect the situation herself, and says, “Oh no! Mess! Mommy, Teenie did mess!” Yes, baby, Teenie made a mess. And I have no idea where on earth you learned to say all that.

2) A couple of nights ago, she slipped and fell in the living room. I wasn’t watching that closely when it happened, but she landed with such a thud that I thought she might’ve hit her head on the coffee table. (She was right next to the coffee table at the time.) I picked her up and was trying to comfort her, and I asked her if she hit her head. Through her sobs, she said, “No, my tushie!” and grabbed her own butt to illustrate her point. That, my friends, is completely awesome.

two

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Catie is two years old today.

I’m sorry, I’ve got nothing else profound to say. I’ve been trying to think of something to write all day, but my mind is just blown. She’s TWO, y’all. Two!

I mean, good lord, didn’t I just take this picture last week?

happy

And now she looks like this?

wearing her Aunt Tracy's rings

How did that HAPPEN???

I’m trying to put together a little video montage of the past year, like I did last year, but I’m having a hard time because there are so many videos to choose from that I absolutely love.

Like this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_oU7TAotzQ

She started off this year as a crawling, generally non-verbal baby – she had a few words here & there, sure, but I wouldn’t say that we exactly communicated with each other.

Now, not only can she walk, she can run and dance. And she can talk your ear off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dh9fzG_QNU

It might be a couple of days before I get this montage video put together. Right now, I’m going to go make dinner for my birthday girl: chicken pie, her favorite. And then we have cupcakes (and a number 2 candle) for dessert. More pictures pending.

Just… two. My god.