Author Archives: Cindy

health update

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Dave and I are slowly recovering from our colds, but as of yesterday, Catie has it too. So far her only symptom is a seriously gross runny nose, which has been keeping her from sleeping comfortably. But her energy level is about the same as usual, which is good. I’ve basically resigned myself to not having a pillow to myself until she’s over her cold. When she’s sick, she wants to sleep in our bed, and she wants to be as close to me as possible. Which is sweet, until my arm falls asleep or I get a crick in my neck.

Catie is getting her steroid (Pulmicort) via the nebulizer twice a day, and so far this cold hasn’t caused any asthma flare-ups. I hope that it’ll stay that way, although I’m worried that this is just the beginning and it’s going to get a lot worse. (I’m basing that on the symptoms that Dave & I have had so far.) Let’s hope I’m wrong, and that her version of this cold is much milder than ours.

playdates and sickies

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I’m not sure what happened to my blog yesterday, but between two online chats with tech support and some major repairs, apparently all is well now. Annoying, but not fatal. Meh.

Yesterday, Catie and I went to Marbles Kids’ Museum, which is always fun. The problem is that downtown Raleigh is quite a hike from us, and with Catie’s tendency to get carsick… well. It wasn’t that bad, I had a change of clothes with us, and she seemed to feel a lot better after she barfed, so I just got her cleaned up and sent her off to play. She had a blast.

happy girl on her horsey

I love this b/c even though she's looking down, you can tell how happy she is

Or rather, they had fun until my friend Kimberly’s mother-in-law tried to get a picture with both Morgan (Kimberly’s daughter) and Catie at the same time. Catie had been so caught up with all of the toys and activities that she hadn’t noticed Morgan’s grandma up until the moment she grabbed her. And, um, Catie was not having it.

Morgan's grandma came over for a group pic. Catie was NOT having it.

I know it’s sick and evil of me, but that picture cracks me up. Besides, a few minutes later, all was well with the world.

playing happily again, after the whole "someone else's grandma hugged me" incident

On our way home from Marbles, I noticed that my throat felt a little scratchy. Dave’s been sick for the past few days, so I worried that I was coming down with it. As soon as we got home, I downed some Zicam and an Emergen-C to try to fight it off. I was supposed to play bunco with some of the neighborhood ladies last night, but I canceled on them since I wasn’t feeling great, plus Dave was miserable and Catie had an asthma attack that afternoon (nothing major, she’d just been running around outside in the cold weather too much), so I was worried about leaving them.

I was in bed by 9:30, and woke up this morning to realize that yes, I have indeed caught the plague. Yuck. I don’t mind suffering through it myself, I’m just worried that Catie will catch it. And since her colds tend to lead to major asthma issues and worse (i.e., hospital visits), I’m doing everything I can to keep her safe. Even trying to limit kisses, which is basically impossible. Cross your fingers that Dave and I keep the germs to ourselves. I’d like for 2009 to be free of trips to the pediatric ER, if at all possible.

giving up boundary issues

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Today, I took Catie to the grocery store with me. She knows this store pretty well, and in fact, knows it so well that almost as soon as we walk in the door, she starts asking for a cookie, because she knows that the nice bakery ladies always give her one.

And you know? Fine. I’m not a food nazi with her, I’m pretty confident that the occasional cookie isn’t going to do any severe or lasting damage. We generally try to keep the house pretty healthy, and we’re lucky to have a toddler who will eat a wide range of foods. Case in point: today I tried to make her some Chef Boyardee ravioli for lunch – that’s a 2 year-old staple, right? Catie decided that she wanted my Lean Cuisine (salmon with orzo pasta, veggies and basil sauce) instead. And then she ate half of a nectarine. (Honestly, I have yet to find a fruit that she doesn’t like.) So you know, no real worries there.

Anyway, we headed over to the bakery to get her the requested cookie. The lady working there today is one that I’ve seen a few times before, but I don’t really know her. If I had to guess her age, I’d say that she’s at least 80. (I’m basing this on the fact that my dad will be 73 next month, and this lady looks at least a decade older than him.) She was very, very old, is my point. She came around the counter to give Catie a cookie, which Catie took from her, and then kind of turned her face away and giggled because the lady was talking to her (“well, hello! Look at you!”, that kind of thing). Then, Bakery Lady leaned in, grabbed Catie, and kissed her on the cheek a few times. A little machine gun “mwah-mwah-mwah!” Catie laughed, Bakery Lady told me how beautiful my baby is, and then she walked off.

The weird thing is, I’m pretty sure that if something like that happened in Catie’s first year, I would’ve freaked out. And today I just shrugged it off. The thought of “oh man, I hope she isn’t carrying any cold germs” crossed my mind, but… meh. I think Catie probably picks up more germs climbing on the equipment at the playground. It mostly just seemed sweet. I suppose it’s because I’m biased and I often find my kid too adorable to not kiss, so I sort of felt like, yeah ok, I understand the need to smooch on her.

out on a walk in our neighborhood greenway
Exhibit A: Still totally kissable even with messy hair.

Also, I feel bad for elderly people who have to work crappy jobs standing on their feet all day, so I try to go out of my way to be extra-nice. This lady was almost certainly somebody’s grandmother, if not a great-grandmother. I hope for her sake that she likes her job, but man, it seems like a pretty undesirable situation. So if it was just that she needed a little toddler snuggle to get her through her shift? Well, then, I was happy to volunteer my kid. And also glad that Catie laughed about it instead of crying.

Would any of you moms out there have gotten upset in that situation? I was kind of surprised at how indifferent I was about it.

Valentine's Weekend Recap

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We’ve had a very nice, low-key weekend. Valentine’s Day is kind of a non-event for Dave and me. Nothing against people who like it, we’re just too lazy. We typically leave the big romantic night for our anniversary.

We did, however, take Catie to the neighborhood Valentine’s Day party on Saturday morning. I think it’s safe to say she was not into it at all.

this is how she spent most of the neighborhood Valentine's Day party

She basically freaked at all of the noise and people, plus we were in a strange place (our local community center, which we had never visited before). I’m not sure exactly why she was so scared, but she spent the entire party clinging to either me or Dave.

Catie & Dave having a snuggle

(I really love that picture of the two of them, even though Catie was in between crying jags at the time.)

Catie & me at the neighborhood Valentine's party

So yeah, not such a great idea on our part. Maybe next year, she’ll deal with it better. Once we got home, though, she was back to her normal self, and we had a lot of fun.

I love the motion in this pic: the legs flying & the ponytail straight out behind her

rocking her sunglasses

With the weather being so nice lately, both yesterday and today, Catie and I have gone out for walks on our greenway. Today, we were having so much fun that I thought it would be a good idea to walk all the way to our neighborhood playground. It’s maybe a 10 or 15-minute walk at a normal, adult pace. With a two year-old who wants to stop and check out all kinds of neat stuff along the way? It’s more like a 45-minute walk. Yeesh.

By the time we got to the playground, I realized that I had forgotten to bring any sort of supplies with me (sippy cup, extra diaper, whatever). Plus it was getting cold, and there was a big gray rain cloud heading straight for us. I wasn’t sure if we’d make the walk back at Catie’s pace, so I whipped out my cell phone (the one thing I had remembered to bring with me) and called Dave. Good husband that he is, he came to the playground and fetched us. Still, when you add up the time of our walk, plus the time we spent at the playground – oh, and then we played some more with the neighborhood kids when we got home – Catie and I were outside for almost two hours. I’m hoping this means she’ll be good and tired and not fight me too much at bedtime tonight.

Oh, one last picture that I have to share. Last week it was abnormally warm, and I had to break out some springtime clothes for Catie. I picked out this one outfit that my sister gave her for her birthday (and Catie totally understands that my sister gave it to her, because all day long, she’d occasionally point at her own shirt, and say, “Tracy!!” Such a smart girl). It’s completely adorable.

possibly the best picture I've ever gotten of her

Cute new outfit + ponytail + genuine laugh + actually looking at the camera for a change = this might be one of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken of her.

milk money

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With the economy being the way it is – or rather, the way the media is portraying it every time I turn on the news – I’ve been thinking about ways to scrimp and save here and there. We’re pretty good about not spending money on frivolous things. We usually rent movies rather than go to the theater, we very rarely eat out, Dave and I haven’t bought clothes for ourselves in ages, etc. The main monthly expense that might have some wiggle room is food. I honestly couldn’t tell you how much we spend on groceries a month. It seems like I’m at the supermarket every few days, so I’d have to gather all of my receipts and add them up, because I really have no clue. But I know it’s a lot.

So, I’m trying to figure out ways that we can save money on our monthly grocery bill. There are a few things that I won’t compromise on:
* Milk – I have to drink the lactose-free milk, which is expensive. And for Catie’s milk, I will only buy her the organic stuff with no hormones or antibiotics. Call me crazy, but I’d like to do everything I can to prevent her from hitting puberty at 9 years old, or having an increased risk of breast cancer (or any other type of cancer).
* Cheese. I buy the store-brand generic stuff, and it’s still pricey. But you know, I like cheese, and I’m not switching to Velveeta just because it’s cheaper.
* A few other things that I’m very brand-specific about: Diet Coke, my specific type of whole-wheat bread, Pampers for Catie, etc. There’s not very many things that I feel that strongly about, but for those few things, I’m stubborn and have absolutely no wiggle room.

As for the things I’m already doing to save money:
* That stuff I just mentioned that I’m brand-specific about? I wait for it to go on sale and then I stock up and buy tons of it, so I think that helps.
* Buying the cheaper/store brand versions of everything else.
* Choosing canned/frozen fruits and veggies instead of fresh. I’m sure it probably loses a bit of its nutritional value in the process, but it does save quite a bit of money.
* Cheap lunches. Dave works from home, and Catie & I are here too, so I usually have to come up with something for all of us to eat for lunch every day. Lately, soup has been very popular in our house. (I have the weirdest toddler in the world, she loves both split pea and vegetable beef soup. I KNOW!) Two cans of Campbell’s soup for 88 cents? Why yes, thank you. I think we can budget that.

Stuff I still need to work on:
* Coupons. I should clip coupons. I know I should. The problem is, every time I’ve done it, I’ve forgotten that the coupons were in my purse when I was checking out. So I need some sort of system that will prevent me from having a total brain fart when I go to pay for my stuff. If any of you have suggestions, let me have them.
* Making a list. I think this would keep me from wandering the store trying to remember all the things I needed, which usually leads me to picking up a few things that we really don’t need.
* For the fruits and veggies that I do buy fresh, I need to try to restrict myself to buying things that are local and in season. Kind of hard to do when your child is demanding grapes, and you can’t buy canned grapes (can you? I’ve never seen them, other than in fruit cocktail), and she isn’t going to wait until grape season rolls around.
* Choosing cheaper meats. It’s not like I’m buying us filet mignon every day or anything like that; we eat chicken more than anything else, really. But for example, when we want seafood, I could maybe make a tuna casserole instead of grilled salmon, and it would be an awful lot cheaper.

Is there anything I’m forgetting? Are you doing anything special to try to save money these days?

I am not the bionic woman

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I mentioned last week that I was going to take some time off from The 30-Day Shred, because my knees were swollen and achy. So I took a week off, but I worked out with the Wii Fit almost every day, because I didn’t want to undo all of the good that I had done. Yesterday, I decided that my knees were feeling fine, so I did The Shred during Catie’s nap. And it was great. It totally kicked my butt, but I enjoyed it and felt good afterward.

Then last night, I went to sit on the couch, and I folded my left leg underneath me, which is how I usually sit. And I felt a sudden pain in my left knee that took my breath away. I don’t know how to describe it, except that I imagine it’s what it feel like to be stabbed. It really, really hurt, is what I’m saying.

My knee is still pretty painful today. It hurts every time I bend my leg to sit down on the floor, which stinks because that makes up a pretty big portion of my day. How do you play with a two year-old, if not on the floor? So this is not good, and I’m really hoping that I don’t end up needing to go to a doctor about it.

Hopefully I’ll bounce back quickly. I don’t want to give up on The Shred because I like it a lot, but it seems pretty likely that I might need to find a lower-impact form of exercise that doesn’t make my joints go all explode-y.

Luckily, the weather’s been really lovely lately, and Catie and I have been going for walks on our neighborhood greenway. And walking is about as low-impact as you can get.

out for a walk on the neighborhood greenway

No, I don’t take my kid out for walks in a crash helmet. She always wants to bring her tricycle along on our walks, even though she’ll only ride it for a few minutes here and there, she mostly wants to run alongside it while I push it. (Thank heavens for that parent-height steering handlebar.) She wears the helmet because I enforce the “we wear helmets anytime we ride anything with wheels” rule. I think it’s better to establish the habit sooner than later.

Also, as long as I’m posting some of the pictures I took yesterday, can someone explain to me how something as simple as a ponytail can make a toddler go straight from “baby” to full-on “little girl”?

Catie laughing at the neighbor kids

It kills me how grown-up she looks with her hair up. I sort of love it, and it sort of breaks my heart just a tiny bit at the same time.

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.