Journal for 2004

Wednesday, July 21

Devon update - last Tuesday (the 13th), he suddenly got in one of those missing front teeth - the one on his right. Then, the next morning, he got the other front one in. So, he suddenly has six teeth! Then, to add to the week's excitement, he suddenly started crawling on Saturday (the 17th). Bill had set him down in the sitting room while he went to get something from the kitchen, and Devon followed him. Now, he's zipping about the carpet, and we're in a frenzy of baby proofing. He's also started pulling up, so Bill had to lower the crib on Sunday. What an exciting week it's been!

School Update - I received credit for the College Algebra, leaving me with 15 classes to take for my major and four more in order to eligible for honors. I've registered for my first class, which starts on August 30 & runs until October 22. It's Introduction to Computer Science - yes, a silly class I know, but it's required and I'm hoping that it will help me ease into going to school, working 40 hours a week, taking care of an infant, general housework, and going to the gym three times a week. So much to do, so little time! Also, I've found a proctor - she works in the Georgia State testing center & charges $15 an hour. I still have to fill out the paperwork on that. No word yet on financial aid.

Social Life Update - Ginger and I went to three movies this past weekend. Three! First we snuck out of work early on Friday, as we were both into overtime already. We saw Dodgeball, and I must say, it far exceeded my expectations. It was quite a funny slapstick comedy. Then, Saturday night we went to the drive-in again and saw Spiderman II & 13 Going on 30. I felt Spiderman was rather blah, but quite liked the second movie. Tomorrow night we are tentatively scheduled for dinner with Paulie, then lunch with Dad on Saturday, and Scotty's going away party on Saturday night. All in all, quite a full social calendar!

Work update - my brain's melting! So much information in such a short time! I've learned ASP, some advanced SQL, how to use SQL Server, and DHTML all in a few weeks, while needing to apply it as well. I currently have eight web sites on my plate - one which is a new project (stvincentin.photobooks.com) and the other 7 are taking existing web sites that we already host, converting them to ASP, and adding in some new features. On the plus side, PhotoBooks is giving me my raise that I didn't get earlier in the year, and to make up for that, they are paying me the full $4000 I would have gotten in one year in half a year instead. That's certainly an incentive to stick it out!

In other random news, I'm thinking about cutting my hair short for a few years; I'm getting pretty tired of Devon pulling on it and I never have time to pull it back in the mornings anyways. Maybe I'll get it streaked purple while I'm at it, since that would grow back out quickly. Hmmm...

Thursday, July 10

The new school for Devon seems to be working out well. He's taking his bottles again just fine. I really like it that they play classical music for the babies. Also, when we come pick him up in the afternoons, he's almost always being held. He's usually one of the last to be gotten, so when they have less babies, they use the opportunity to play with them. It may not seem like much, but they didn't do that at his old school.

Devon has four teeth now! Only instead of getting in one of the middle front ones, he got in the other side front. He's like a baby vampire :-) I keep explaining to him that if his teeth don't oppose each either that he can't chew, but he's not listening to me. No real big surprise there.

The last thing to report with Devon is that his "crawling" is getting a little better. He still can't really manage forward yet, but he can occasionally lunge forward & get somewhere. He's also learned how to sit up from a crawling position, so except when he gets cranky, I don't have to run rescue him when he's tired of being on his belly. Of course, I still have to rescue him when he crawls backwards & suddenly finds himself under the sofa :-)

My self-improvement kick continues. I've started taking my vitamins again. I know; it's not a big thing, but every little improvement cheers me up! I've also started, slowly, returning to working out. It's still a little hard following the surgery, but it feels wonderful!

School update - I received my acceptance letter! I've received 82 transfer credits, and I have only 16 classes to take; I'm still trying to get credit for one more of those (College Algebra - they gave me credit for Calc I, though). However, if I want to be able to graduate with honors, I must have at least 57 hours at Limestone, which translates to 19 classes. So, my current plan is to take a few extra programming classes to out me up to that 57 hour mark. I still have to get a proctor, but at the suggestion of the advisor for the virtual campus (who is just miserable at communicating via email; why she has this position, I have no idea) I'm going to check out some of the local community campus testing centers to see if I can make arrangements there. As for financial aid, I'm still waiting to hear.

Work - I've changed positions at PhotoBooks. I'm now a regular production weasel again & Veaya is the production manager. I'm specializing in "programming" tasks, which seems to equate to ASP websites. So, I'm learning ASP. I've swapped desks with Veaya, too, which means that my new cube is about a third the size of the old one. I have it very well organized now, with shelves & dry erase boards. Why the change in position? Louis said he needed more "programmers" & I'd be more help here. I've had mixed reactions to this - on one hand, the change is nice, not to mention less responsibility & slightly more flexible hours. On the other hand, the general feeling of being demoted (despite Louis claiming that it's not a demotion but rather a move sideways, it's a demotion) is extremely demoralizing. In the end, I've decided to try & stick it out as part of the lure to get me to swap was an offer to have PhotoBooks pay for half my school expenses. We'll see how it goes :-(

Thursday, June 24

Devon started at The First School of First Baptist Decatur on Monday. He seems to be enjoying it a great deal; when I went to pick him up on Monday, one of the teachers was rocking him & he didn't want to come home. I guess that's a good sign!:-) It's only about 6 minutes to work from there, so it's much easier to pick him up & bring him back to work in case one of us stays late. Apparently, he's not taking his bottles there (at least, not more than an ounce or so at a time). He's still drinking them fine at home, but this means that we'll have to send along more veggies & other foods!

Speaking of veggies, he had butternut squash & corn the other night (that should make Grandmamma happy, although as I HATE squash of all sorts, I was fairly appalled :-), and he was VERY fond of it. He ate a whole 4 ounce jar at one sitting. Also, the daycare people yesterday got him to finish a jar of peas, which he hasn't been liking. Either they are more patient than me or the baby was starving. Of course, now that he's getting more variety in his food, he may just be willing to give peas another shot. Who knows? I guess I'll need to try some peas at home to see how he does.

Remember that third tooth I mentioned a few weeks back? Well, it's pretty well confirmed at this point that it's not one of the middle top teeth; it's a side front tooth instead. He willfully skipped getting in the front two & jumped straight to the side. Those two front ones are ready to come in any day now, so then he'll have five teeth. Wicked baby! He also plays the tongue game with me again. We stick out our tongues at each other, which he thinks is very funny. Or, we'll say "gah!" at each other for a bit, which is likewise funny. In fact, most things in his life are funny, like that baby he keeps seeing in the mirror (it's very friendly; smiles when he smiles, jumps when he jumps), Daddy's red hair, and Mama's singing :-)

Devon has one more thing to report. He's started crawling! Well, kinda. He only crawls backwards right now. See, he'll rock back slightly to get onto his hands & knees, but then his arms are out in front of him. So, he drops back to his belly, moves his arms into a comfortable position, rocks backwards to get to his hands & knees, and it starts all over again. He gets so confused when he suddenly finds himself backed up under the couch :-) Sometime in the next week or two, though, I have every confidence that he'll figure it out.

We're currently investigating private school for Devon. I know it's a bit early to be thinking about that, but many of these private schools have waiting lists that are years long, so we need to be looking into it know if we want him to be able to start in a timely manner. Two of the schools we're currently investigating are Arbor Montessori and Montessori at Emory. There's a lot to consider, though, like the price (of course!) and whether Montessori is the right teaching method for us. We still have time, but neither can we afford to put this off to some nebulous time in the future.

The VBA class went well. I can't say I was flooded with new information, but I did pick up some helpful tricks & tips for using Access. Was it worth the money? Maybe not, but the change of pace sure was wonderful! I'm still waiting to hear final word from Limestone about being accepted into the program, and about financial aid. Hopefully I can get everything cleared up in time for the September classes.

Last week we witnessed a big car crash. The woman in front of us was slammed into by a guy going at least 40 or 50 miles per hour. He ran the red light and hit her on the passenger side without even slowing down once. The woman staggered out of her car covered in blood, and I jumped out of the car to help her. In the end, aside from some massive bruising on her arms from the airbag & a piece of glass in her forehead (which is where all the blood came from), she was relatively uninjured. Of course, I'm pretty sure that if there had been a passenger in that car, the passenger would have been killed instantly. To top it all off, the other driver fled the scene, but someone followed him in his car & got the guy's license plate number so I'm hoping they caught him. Anyway, I ended up sitting with the woman until the police & the paramedics arrived to take her to the hospital, as she desperately needed someone to sit with her to keep her from going to badly into shock. Meanwhile, Bill had called 911 but then had to go pick up the baby as the daycare was going to close soon. I never caught the woman's name, beyond Bessie, but I hope she's doing well.

But, karma must exist, as we were rewarded for being helpful. On Sunday, we went to Outback for Father's Day. The couple in the booth across from us, along with their grown daughter, were vastly entertained by Devon who was sitting in a high chair for only the second time at a restaurant. He was grabbing at everything, and even pulled my salad over on him at one point. Devon, Bill, and I were all giggling and playing together, and the couple kept laughing at him. When they left, their daughter returned to tell us that her mother has wished us a happy Father's Day & to let us know that they had paid for our meal. Wasn't that wonderfully nice of them?! It really made our day!

Friday, June 11

Devon will be swapping to a new daycare on the 21st of June. I just haven't been happy with the current place since we put him there, but it was available and convenient to the house. A spot has finally come open at the First Baptist of Decatur, though, and we're moving him. Sadly, it's $40 more a week, which is pricey, but we think the change is worth it. Their caregiver to children ratio is MUCH better, and they just seem happier & more playful. It doesn't hurt any that I can actually understand the teachers, unlike the current place where most of them speak with such heavy accents that I'm constantly saying, "What?"

In other news, Devon is currently sitting on Bill's chest, and just spit up all over his face. Ah, the joys of being a parent.

Bill has a cold, and is grumpy. I imagine spit up in the face isn't an improvement. Still, he's perked up a little since I handed him the baby; he really enjoys spending time with Devon!

I attended a class today in Visual Basic Applications for Access. I didn't learn a great deal, but there were some really interesting Access-specific stuff. And, the change of pace from the usual work day was nice. The second half of the class is next Friday.

Tuesday, June 8

I'm trying to be better about filling out my journal. In fact, I'm trying to be better about many things, but read on for more information about that.

Friend news - I haven't heard anything from Amynda & Bruce lately. I hope all their plans for moving to London are going well. It's been a hectic spring (hell, it's been hectic since I got pregnant) and I've been quite wicked about not keeping in touch. I heard secondhand through Louis that Cheryl is engaged to someone she met in Baghdad. How romantic :-)

Devon had his first bath sitting in the tub without any kind of tub support tonight, instead sitting up on his own. He splashed and splashed and splashed! It was wonderfully fun to watch, even though I got a bit damp.

I want to go ahead and note the story of Devon's teeth. The first one came in on Tuesday, April 27th on the bottom. There was much ooh-ing and ah-ing. On May 7th, Devon had his 6 month check-up at the doctor, who incidentally, pronounced him "perfect". At 10:30, I showed off his tooth to the doctor. We then dropped him off at the daycare. When we picked him up at 6:00 pm, he had 2 teeth!!! When I suddenly noticed it, he started laughing and laughing like he had pulled a fast one over on us! :-) As a side note, his third tooth came in this past Saturday on the top and to the right, not in the center like the others were. We'll just have to wait and see if it slides more towards the middle as it continues coming in.

I mentioned above that I'm working on improving myself. It's a multi-step program. Step 1: I joined a gym. Specifically, Curves, which I've enjoyed tremendously. It's VERY reasonably priced & I feel comfortable there, which is important, rather than an overweight fish-out-of-water. I was attending regularly until the gall bladder problems started. I have to wait another week and a half, and then I can return (if I feel up to it). I'm very excited about both losing weight and getting more into shape.

Step 2: Finances. I'm actively working to take hold of my finances more actively, and not only pay off the debts I owe but have savings as well. I'm not quite to the stage where I can both have regular savings and savings for Devon's future too, but hopefully I'll be able to get to that point sometime in the next few years.

Step 3: I've applied to Limestone College's virtual program to get my Bachelor's in Computer Programming. All the classes are online, which is perfect for my schedule as it means that I can continue to work full time, play with my baby when I get home from work, and then do my schoolwork after he's gone to bed. The only downside is that I'm not sure yet how often I'm going to be able to afford classes, as they are $660 per class (not a bad price considering that translates to $220 per semester hour & even Georgia State is $180 per semester hour for instate, but you still have to pay fees and things on top of that). Frequency of classes will depend on how much financial aid I get, and how quickly I can pay off my outstanding debts so I can apply that money to school instead.

Step 4: Better housekeeping. Okay, I'll admit that for most people this isn't a big one, but Ginger & I are atrocious housekeepers. With a baby just about ready to crawl, though, we have to do a better job of keeping up with the housework. I'm still somewhat skeptical about my abilities here, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Step 5: More time specifically devoted to relaxation. Currently, I find myself wasting time watching TV or browsing the Internet. When I'm done, I just feel like the evening is gone and nothings occurred. Instead, I want to actively snatch moments for myself, like reading a good book, or working on a project, or doing some sewing. Then, when the evening is done, I'll be happy that not only have I accomplished something, but that I feel actively more relaxed. After all, until Devon moves out many, many years from now, I will never again have unlimited free time as once I did :-)

Well, I think that's plenty in my journal for now. I hope to keep up with this a bit better, so I don't spend all my writing energy merely getting caught up on the big things but have the time to write down the small day-to-day stuff that will be much more interesting, at least to me, years from now.

Wednesday, June 2

Okay, so a new mom who works full time doesn't have a lot of time for writing journals. At least, I don't. I don't know about other moms.

The big health report - I was in the hospital this past week. See, about two months after Devon was born, I started getting these intense pains in my upper abdomen & back that were so intense I was missing work over them. I was frequently throwing up, & absolutely miserable. The problem was that they were occurring twice a month, timed off my menstrual cycle, so I assumed they were just after effects of giving birth.

As time passed, they grew less, so I stopped worrying about them. Then, two weeks ago, they started back again terrible!!!!! After spending most of the weekend in bed, I got an appointment with my gynecologist on Tuesday (last week). The doctor said that this wasn't a gynecological problem, & I should go to  my primary care physician right away. So, that afternoon, I got in to see him, during which things got dramatically worse. I was sent to the hospital.

By that evening, the doctors had determined that I had gall stones, which had also caused a severe case of pancreatitis (the gall stones were blocking the bile duct & the bile from the liver, useful for dissolving fat enzymes, were instead dissolving the pancreas). After several days in the hospital with nothing to eat while the pancreas recovered some, I had my gall bladder removed on Friday with laparoscopic surgery. (Which is a pretty amazing thing - I have 4 incisions on my stomach, the longest no more than an inch!). I went home on Sunday, and I even made it in for a few hours of work today.

So, the moral of this story? Upper abdominal pain is NEVER a side effect of pregnancy/child birth & should always be immediately checked out by a doctor. High levels of estrogen can trigger gall stones, so pregnant women are particularly susceptible.

By the way, let me just say now how wonderful my mother is. She came from Charleston & sat with Devon so Bill could stay in the hospital with me. Once I came home, she then helped clean most of the house. THANK YOU, MOM!!!!!!!!!

Let me also say how wonderful my husband is. He's always there for me, and willing to do anything to help. I'm the luckiest women in the world! Thank you, honey, and I love you!

The Devon report - he gets more perfect by the day. He's almost seven months old now! He has two teeth on the bottom, and he learned how to sit up on his own a couple of weeks ago. His hair is a distinct copper color, and his eyes are still blue. He giggles & plays & laughs all the time, and is the best baby in the world (no, really, I've had several comments from babysitters about how well he's behaved). He's eating rice cereal & oatmeal every day, in addition to his formula, & he's also eaten peas. As soon as we go to the store, we plan on picking up some carrots for him to try out (we're feeding him organically grown veggies for babies only, which are sometimes hard to find at the store).

Home ownership is nice, but it's expensive. I keep wanting to do projects, but they all require money & time. I'm hoping now that my gall bladder is gone & I won't keep getting the recurring health problems that I'll have more energy for projects.

Saturday, January 17

I've been back at work for two weeks now. I miss Devon dreadfully during the days, and I'm worn out as he's still not sleeping through the night (on good nights, we get about a 5 hour nap and on bad night it might be just a few hours). Bill is, of course, wonderful and frequently takes his fair share (or even more than his fair share) with staying up with Snap in the night. Devon is doing MUCH better these days, and though he still spits up a lot, he's plumping up nicely! We're frantically trying to find a day care center for him, as Amy took care of him two weeks ago and Hope (Bill's mom) had him this past week. Mom is staying with us this week, so we've got to find a place for him by the 26th.