I'm watching you, Wazowski, always watching...

The shadow on the left, formed by two robots and a wireless router, tripped Ben out last last night.

Oh, and there's swine flu in Nebraska. Some dude from San Diego brought it to Omaha. Thanks.

Diagnosis:

My temperature yesterday at 3:00pm yesterday: 99.8F
Blood pressure: 110/52
Orion: 15lb, 10oz. He seems to be concentrating his growth in advances in height, not weight.
No signs of infection: I'm not contagious.
Post-bronchial inflammation: I am to use an inhaler for 10 days. Woo-hoo. Except I've never used one before, and I couldn't tell if I did it right last night.

doo-wah, ditty, ditty, dum, ditty doo-rag

That's my boy!

Tired, today. The sort of thing where your eyes burn from the labor of just staying open, and when you blink, you let it linger. A wistful moment of rest, gone, just like that.

I called this morning for an appointment with the doctor, but I waited until after 9 to call and all of the slots for today were filled. For the most part, sickness doesn't bother me too much. We've escaped flu, and I can only remember once in my adult days when I ever felt too ill to function and carry out the day's duties. For the most part, if I am ill, it is only a minor inconvenience; an afterthought. I dread ingesting chemicals and concoctions called "medicine," I would much rather prefer the sort of natural medicine of a lying on the earth in the sunshine or embracing my babies. But this ickiness, cyclical coughing--voice loss--faucet nose thing hasn't ever really gone completely away over the past few months. It has subsided, but not vanished. This weekend it was worse again. Yesterday I could barely speak. I feel cheated, though--through it all I have never approached the kind of sickness where you lose your appetite (illness as weight loss mechanism). No, instead, I plug away at the YMCA with nowhere-near-peak lung capacity, not losing any weight. Where is the justice?

Ph, right--it's lying there in the corner with those Reese's Peanut Butter Cups wrappers.

the way things are meant to be

Today was Arbor Day; did you know it? Tree Day, essentially. But most importantly to me, it was a day off from work. Paid holiday, no less. Best part yet? The kids still had school.
Orion and I got to hang out at home, and relax. I read the whole newspaper before noon, which happens pretty much never.

It felt so natural. Orion, who amazes me daily with his even-keeled temper at work, was even more pleasant at home all day with just Mommy. I didn't know it was possible.

He just turned 5 months old today. With Torrin I stayed home with him until he was 6.5 months old and I began college. Mira was 5.5 months old when I started my AmeriCorps term. There's 4.5 months and a bachelor's degree between the two of them; between Mira and Orion there's two AmeriCorps terms of service and 2 years of working at the Indian Center. But Orion didn't get to stay home with mom at all. It seems so unnatural. I'm thankful that he is with me all day and not compartmentalized in various toy stations at daycare, but it's not even close to having my full attention.

We had a good day even though I didn't get anything accomplished at home except sewing a button on a pair of pants that had gone half-unbuttoned for the past couple of wearings. I attempted to vacuum but couldn't figure out how to empty the cat fur out of the cannister. Bless him, Ben does most of the vacuuming but it also means that he is the one who better knows how to operate the darn thing. I have the instructions--buried in a pile of papers six months high that needs filing. The carpet was so encrusted with fur that I didn't even want to lie the baby down so I could start sorting. Alas, if only I had every Friday off, maybe I'd get somewhere...

Now, it's bedtime. We're playing Dance Dance Revolution. It's never been at our house before; this game system belongs to the library. Orion put himself to sleep in Ben's arms, gnawing on his green bandana. It's been bringing him great joy all evening.

Under the Table and Dreaming

This title works if you're Orion and sleep under Mommy's desk at work all week!

Speaking of sleeping beauties, here's my little girl looking rather gargantuant:

It's BEAUTIFUL outside. About 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This is how I love it. Now if only I were sitting on a blanket in a green grassy field, with a gossip magazine, a churro, and horchata to drink, that'd be just about perfect. Beverage and snack negotiable. The tulips shown below are from our backyard, sitting happily in my office window.

It's only driving if it's a manual transmission.

This?
Is not driving. It's maneuvering a vehicle. But it sure was nice to be able to transport all of the kids safely and legally at one time. (That and, you wouldn't catch me driving an American vehicle if I had anything to do with the choosing).

Visual Treats

Return of the toe:

No, Torrin doesn't need glasses...yet.
Here, on Easter Sunday, with his Aunt Joyce's specs.
I think they look pretty good.
Little Miss Easter herself. She has an armchair cover on her head. Fits perfectly, like a veil.
And Mr. Spring Breeze himself, our little Orion, who loves to be outside, on Tuesday evening, down the block from our house.

A Moment Stolen

Or, "Why I haven't checked in lately"

I left work at 3:57pm yesterday for a committee meeting starting at 4:00pm at my son's school. Luckily it is only about 2.5 miles away; 7-8 minutes by car. Upon leaving, I had:
--attended 1 staff meeting
--no intern showed up, because his truck wouldn't start
--4 tax returns completed
--4 unresolved income tax returns waiting for their owners
--3 packages of diapers that had not been picked up from the church
--3 diaper orders to call in
--1 unresolved rental assistance inquiry
--15 unanswered voicemails
--not completed redesign of food programs application form
--not completed new volunteer ID badges
--14 client files awaiting database entry and confirmation letters needing to be written, printed, and mailed to those clients
--not a single bathroom break (I needed to go potty!)
--no time to check e-mail
--no chance to drink my daily afternoon Coke (a necessity!)

Thank goodness Orion is such an easygoing, friendly baby! He did a lot of sitting around and hanging out yesterday.