Cold Baby Toes!

Blake dipped his toes into the Atlantic Ocean for the first time while we were at the Cape; it was so much fun!  While we were at the Cape, we drove out to Provincetown which is at the extreme tip of Cape Cod.  Near there is Race Point Beach.  It’s a gorgeous, peaceful beach that is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. 

There are tons of huge dunes and since it’s on the Atlantic side, the water is really cold!  We’d been there years ago on our one year anniversary and decided to head over to see things – the weather was spectacular!

We went on Blake’s 7mos birthday and decided it would be great take our traditional monthly shots out on the beach.  He wasn’t too keen on the idea, but he’s such a sweet baby, he just went along with the fun…until Daddy dipped his tiny feet into the water!  OH he screamed!  Just for a minute – but he was SO not happy with his Daddy.  I of course had nothing to do with it J but just took pictures. 

In hind sight, we probably should have taken the photos earlier in the day, but decided to head into Ptown for lunch first.  Overall, Blake did really well, and we have some wonderful pictures to document his big day! 

I miss it already….

Happy Monday Ya’ll!

We're Car Schleppers Now

Taking a baby on vacation ain’t for sissies.  It is seriously a huge challenge my people.  (I’m laughing at myself here in case you can’t tell.) I was getting all misty this morning thinking about my awesome Diamond Status with Hilton – and even that silly Silver status with US Air had its benefits.  All of that is long gone…sniff…sniff.  These days, we’re car schleppers.    I can’t even think about an airplane with a car seat, Baby Bjorn travel crib, diapers and food – and that’s just the carry-ons! 

The days of just heading into NYC for the weekend are long gone but gosh they were great while they lasted.  The idea of going to NY now makes me shudder not to mention what would happen if we walked into Tiffany’s with a stroller!  EEK!

So, heavy sigh, it’s a car or nada.  Since we haven’t been on vacation in “I don’t know how long” except for a long weekend, it is now time to get away and truly relax.  Not that it’s the same definition of relax that it used to be – relax now means Blake is fed, cleanly diapered, and chilling out on his activity mat for a few minutes.  It means you have time to clean the bottles without holding a baby or singing silly French songs.   

It used to mean, reading a book and falling asleep with a toasty afghan on a Sunday afternoon or driving aimlessly around the Cape going where the whim took us.  Now, we have to plan; probably one activity per day; at least for now.  And odds are we won’t even get that in.  Blake will set the tone.

All I’m hoping for is that he actually sleeps.  I don’t care where.  The car ride up to the Cape (15 hours!) in itself could be a total nightmare as he is not a huge fan of his car seat, is too young to be occupied by videos and lastly, very rarely sleeps in the car.  I am afraid Mommy’s singing voice will be taxed before we even get out of the state of NC!   Good times.  So, instead of stopping for Mommy’s bio breaks, now we will be stopping to get Blake out of his seat, feed him, change him and just find a bit of sanity.

Any tips from you experienced traveling Moms and Dad would be greatly appreciated!  For now I will try not to over pack and remember there are stores on Cape Cod.  We will try to get him used to his travel ‘bed’ and continue to pray a whole lot that we get to the Cape in one happy, cohesive family unit! J

Happy Monday Ya’ll!

Beware of the Sloth Attack

Well, it's July and hot as blazes outside here in Charlotte, NC.  I'm enjoying my week off so far, but not sure what I have to show for it!  I've always lived under the guise of doing - something, anything every day that I can look back on and be proud of.  So far, I've been on 'vacation' for five days and I've got very little to show for it.

I've had some fun and enjoyed my relaxation, but I'm not too sure I've been very productive.  If anything, during this phase of my life, I should be keeping busy and keeping my mind otherwise occupied.    Even my dogs sense something is up....there's something to be said about Bubbie intuition isn't there?  I've constantly had a Bubbie on my lap, at my feet or just sitting next to me for days now.  I love every minute of it.  They do get warm though!    I'm still fascinated that they have to be on me or next to me when it's 104 degrees outside! 

The only drawback to all of this 'Bubbie love' is it gives me an even bigger incentive to do nothing.  It's like a vicious circle of sloth!  I'm sitting here typing this when I should be figuring out what we're going to have for dinner!  My brain AND my stomach could just care less right now.  I assume that's just a side effect of my sloth attack.   My secret hope is that my sweet husband will pull a miracle out of his pocket and come up with something easy and appealing without me making a darned thing!  Miracles can happen you know!

This time off wasn’t really planned – it was a vacation of opportunity I guess you could say.  I had the time and there was nothing going on at work so here we are.  I should have planned something I guess, but with B doing homework around the clock, there isn’t a whole lot of time to go away or do even a day trip.

I’m on a ‘stay-cation’ I guess you could say for now.  I need to finish that stupid book I started a week ago and bake something.  That will help to make me feel productive I guess.  Maybe I can start to knit.  It’s too hot to dig in the dirt outside, ain’t no way I’m walking the poor Bubbies in this heat and honestly, even doing my favorite thing – grocery shopping could be risky.  By the time I hit the car, my food will have been cooked – so no grocery shopping for me!

(Wow, that’s depressing.  I’m on vacation and I want to go grocery shopping.  I need help.)

I hope the rest of you are enjoyed a wonderful weekend and have great things planned for the holiday week ahead!

For now, I’ll go back to my book, rotate the Bubbies off my lap and try to feel all perky and productive.

Happy Monday Ya’ll!



My Blackberry Won't Leave Me Alone

Taking time off - why didn't I think of this sooner?  I'm so much calmer and really enjoying doing nothing for a change.  Unfortunately, "nothing" has a whole new definition.   "Nothing" now comes equipped with a laptop, Blackberry and iTouch.  It used to be just a book and maybe a remote control.  When did the shift happen?

I really miss the days when I took off time from work and just walked away and hid out in my apartment or went home for Christmas.  Now, every time that stupid little star shows up on my work email, I feel compelled to at least look to see who sent something and what the subject line is....it's a problem I know.

Add to that my OTHER email and then texts and of course there's Facebook to keep up with as well.  I have been off for three whole days and haven't read more than 2 chapters in my 'I can't wait to read this' book. 

I've watched some really bad TV - Wings reruns - while playing Words with Friends.  I've written blog posts, while watching Deadliest Catch episodes we had DVRd and I've talked on the phone while checking my personal email updates.  I think I have a problem.

I can't get comfortable anywhere unless there's a plug nearby and goodness knows when my phone dies I feel cut off from the world.  (Not that it works at home or anything.)

So what can I do to disconnect.  I could just let all of the batteries die on everything and leave them be until I have to go back to work.  But that won't work - I'll just get yelled at by everyone - where were you???  We left you a note?! 

Ahh, the pressure of technology.  Maybe I'll compromise and not check anything until I finish my book.  Maybe a balance of real world and technology is all I need.  I think I need to ration my technological time with my 'grounding' time....

In the meantime, I'll focus on playing with the Bubbies, reading my books and talking with B and spending some quality time together!  Go crazy!  Talking with my husband?  What a unique idea....hmmm....maybe I'll take a nap....

Happy Saturday Ya'll!

Bomb Pops and Fireworks

I enjoyed a somewhat lazy day - after a crazy morning.  This week coming up is going to be a real humdinger.  It's going to be loaded with lots of activity, both at work and at home and then I'm looking forward to a whole week off from work.  Now that doesn't happen often.  I'm really looking forward to an old fashioned Fourth of July.  I hope you have fun plans too!  I'm going to make homemade ice cream, we'll go see fireworks and maybe (if the weather allows) we'll go see a silly parade! 

I love the idea of homemade ice cream and fireworks - not sure why - but it really reminds me of being a kid.  Not that we had homemade ice cream a lot growing up - but we sure did go to fireworks.  I remember going to Bel Air High School early in the evening and putting out our blanket and chairs and camping out until dark.  We'd wait for the Good Humor man to show up and then line up for a Strawberry Shortcake, a Fudgecicle or a Bomb Pop.  (Bomb Pops always lasted the longest!)  Then we'd wait with the fireflies and mosquitoes and hundreds of other people and then lie back and ooh and ahh through the show.  They never disappointed.  Afterwards, you had to fight your way back through the crowds and the traffic to get home again, but it sure was fun while it lasted! 

I don't know why, but for the last ten years, I haven't seen fireworks on the Fourth of July!  So weird.  I don't think I really knew where to go see them in CLT.  Hopefully we'll find a great spot this year!  I want to go watch them in the humid air, laying on my blanket and do some people watching on the side. 

I think I might try strawberry ice cream in the old 'maker' this year.  What traditions do you have for the 4th?  Do you like fireworks or do you hate the noise?  Our Bubbies don't care about them all that much...noise doesn't really bother them like that luckily.  We wouldn't take them with us though...Paxton's Prozac doesn't really cover fireworks or crowds very well.

Now I just need to get more corn on the cob, make potato salad and bake something silly - maybe something with a flag on it...

In the meantime, I hope you have a great week!  Happy Sunday Ya'll!

Where to begin....

The time has come.  I think I'm ready to begin documenting our crazy life, the ups and downs in the life of J - B and the Bubs.  I'm J, my loving husband is B and our two sweet dogs, Seamus (pronounced Shaymus) and Paxton are the Bubs.  Nice to meet you.

Today is the day before a 4 day break for Memorial Day and I think I'm ready to chill and do nothing for a few days!   Our lives have been pretty boring lately- not that I'm complaining.  Excitement comes in the little things - the lawn mowed and gorgeous for a few days - gluten free pizza at Dominos! - a clean house - Jason Mraz' new CD blaring in my car - like I said, it's the small things that make up a good week.

I'd rather be going to the Cape for the holiday and having a wee bit of Chatham, MA and lobster rolls- but hey, the Domino's GF pizza was pretty darned good!  Weak I know, but in a pinch, I'll take it.

Chatham Lighthouse Beach

Lobster's Good....

Our Bubbies - also known as the bubs, the mutts, Sea (Shay), Paxie, Peanuts...you name it...are spoiled to the nth degree of rotten.  Since we don't have kids yet (quite a long story), all of our attention, extra funds and focus goes on them.  I'm sure it's quite annoying to non-dog lovers, but we love our bubs!

My B - well, he's a sweetie and loves his sports and his newspapers.  I can't touch the stupid things myself, YUCK, but the man lives for his papers every day; I swear we've recycled so much of it that we could  make enough toilet paper to supply our whole neighborhood for a week.  B loves Cape Cod too and I'm sorry we couldn't swing a brief blitz for the Mem holiday, but we'll put on our sound machine tonight and pretend we're listening to the waves.....like I said, it's the little things!  Happy Memorial Day ya'll!